


Bent Out Of Shape

by roseverdict



Series: Artie Heckin' Dies But It's Fine [1]
Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: ARTIE HECKIN DIES, Again, Angst, Fix-it fic, Fluff, Gen, Let them be friends, P L E A S E MYSTERYBEN IM BEGGING YOU, Post-Hellbent, This is, also low-key a, also while romance isn't a key factor in this, bit of, but mostly just, crossposted from tumblr, ghost!arthur, like at all, ok, skdhskxbskdjskd, these three are my OT3 and that might bleed through a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-19 08:57:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22008424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseverdict/pseuds/roseverdict
Summary: The final Wish of a dying soul is one of the strongest forms of magic there is. For example, it can scrub away someone's memories of a loved one and prevent them from ever knowing the memories were there.It can also take the fabric of reality and reweave it from the point of death onwards, for the sole purpose of giving the Wisher a chance to right wrongs.Even if the Wisher was a self-proclaimed "spineless coward" in life, like Arthur Kingsmen.(Or, the one where Arthur heckin' dies, but things somehow work out alright anyway.)
Relationships: Arthur/Lewis (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur/Lewis/Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur/Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Lewis/Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Lewthur, Lewvi, Lewvithur, Vithur
Series: Artie Heckin' Dies But It's Fine [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1591297
Comments: 18
Kudos: 218





	1. Bent Out Of Shape (AKA The One-Shot That Didn't Stay A One-Shot)

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, due to the fact that, even with the MSA fandom in a bit of a slump due to the whole "Hellbent came out over a year ago and the next video's not slated for release until late 2020" thing, I got several people screaming excitedly and feeling emotions, I'M DROPPING THIS HERE TOO! JUST TAKE IT AND JOIN ME IN EMOTIONAL HECK

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which several hearts break in several different ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick warning for mentions of death and gore for uh. obvious reasons. mostly just characters reacting, though, it’s not described in super-mega-detail. still though uh stay safe thudes

Ka-shnk.

Idly, Arthur mused that the sound really shouldn’t have been so quiet.

Or maybe it _was_ loud, and he was just ignorant to the fact of the matter.

Heh. Speaking of “ignorant,” his mind still hadn’t rebooted from what he’d seen before his fall.

He’d spent all his time trying to find his best friend in the world, only for the worst 5 seconds in all of history to just toss everything he’d _thought_ he’d known out the window.

(He coughed, something he couldn’t quite identify dribbling from his mouth. Shouldn’t he be feeling…he didn’t really know, the burning feeling of severed nerves or something?)

Lewis was dead.

Lewis was a ghost.

Lewis wanted _him_ dead.

But why? Why, why, _why???_ What would drive someone he’d _thought_ was his best friend to _throw him from a cliff and into a pit of razor-sharp spikes???_

If Arthur hadn’t already been gasping for air, he would’ve gasped anyway, realization striking harder than his impact just a few brief moments before.

The cave.

The green cave.

The green cave where Lewis vanished and Vivi lost her memory and Mystery had to rip off Arthur’s arm, Arthur’s green _green green **guilty GUILTY MURDEROUS arm!!!**_

The world grew dim, or maybe Arthur’s eyesight was just giving out, or maybe Lewis didn’t see fit to illuminate his body anymore.

That’s what this was, wasn’t it? This whole thing was just a big, spooky, scary play! Exeunt The Deceased, Pursued By Bear! Arthur had been disposed of, and so his screentime was done!

(Were his thoughts even making sense anymore?)

Lewis was probably gonna go back outside and light the crazy tree lady from before on fire, and Vivi would remember everything and the two of them and Mystery would get their happily-ever-after, free of Arthur The Killer!

(It didn’t feel like it.)

The entire thing seemed to be perfect, were it not for one teensy-tiny, itsy-bitsy detail that Lewis seemed to have missed.

ARTHUR HAD NEVER WANTED HIM DEAD IN THE FIRST PLACE!

He coughed, or at least tried to go through the motions of it. Being impaled by solid rock, real or ghostly, kinda made it difficult.

A new, separate substance trickled down from his eyes. Distantly, Arthur thought he might be crying. He couldn’t let Lewis see, else he might come up with an even worse fate for The Weeping Traitor, as punishment for trying to tug at his heartstrings…or something. Arthur wasn’t really sure.

He managed to turn his head at the sound of flickering flames. Oh, goodie, Lewis didn’t just want him impaled! He wanted to cook him like a marshmallow over a campfire, or junk food in a county fair deep fryer!

Arthur closed his eyes and went limp. Best to just get it over with. He only wished he’d had a chance to work things out with Lewis, and Vivi, and everyone.

But this was it…

…

…except his limbs started drifting, independent of gravity, as if he was floating on the surface of a swimming pool that extended into all dimensions.

His eyes snapped open at the realization, nearly bugging out of his skull(?!) as he realized _the world had never dimmed at all._

Nervously, terrified of what he might see but _knowing_ it could only be one thing, Arthur looked down.

His body almost had the beginnings of a serene smile, if he ignored the blood dripping from his mouth. And the jagged rock sticking out of his chest. And the several squishy fleshy things that were _not_ meant to be outside the human body and _oh no he was gonna **hurl-**_

Even though he could see what remained of his stomach, he could’ve sworn he felt his last “meal” rising into the back of his throat. If he even had one of those anymore. He couldn’t really tell.

He _really_ didn’t wanna see ghost puke today.

The sound of crackling fire stopped coming closer, and Arthur knew it had to be because Lewis could see his handiwork.

“Arthur?”

Lewis’s voice was raspy, almost as if he hadn’t used it in a while- _oh wait._

“Why did you do this to me?”

Oh boy. Raspy _and_ demanding.

Arthur swallowed down whatever passed for ghostly half-digested pizza and hunkered down the best he could behind another stalagmite.

In doing so, he discovered two things.

First, a newly-dead ghost does not a master of stealth make.

Second, even if it did, yellow was kind of a bright color.

“Wh-?”

Oh no.

Lewis was coming closer.

Lewis was coming closer and when he saw Arthur had become a ghost he would probably have all kinds of cruel and unusual tortures for him and-

“Well, that’s unusual.”

Arthur’s shivering froze, and he dared to peek up between his arms at his friend and killer and _what._

His left arm, the one that had been mechanical, was now a solid yellow glow in a vaguely-armlike shape.

He couldn’t help it. He’d spent too long fearing sudden changes in his arm, it was the only thing he could _do._

He yelped at a pitch that would make a soprano blush, held his arm away from himself like it was one of Vivi’s “cursed artifacts…”

…and, apparently, made it vanish with a thought.

Not as nice as having his metal arm, but he could work well enough without it.

Lewis stared at him, as if he wanted to deck him but was too confused to follow through. “Why is your arm like that?”

Arthur, though he may have been dead (and that was a whole other issue he _really didn’t wanna unpack right that second_ ), discovered he could still hyperventilate.

“Why did you say my name??”

Because that’s all he could do.

“How could you not have known???”

He couldn’t even have the minor mercy of fainting from lack of oxygen, so he hyperventilated far more than a living person could.

Another thing his current “state” (sure, let’s call it that) could do was let him ramble on and on without needing to pause for air.

“LEWIS OH MAN I’M SO SORRY I NEVER WANTED TO PUSH YOU I NEVER WANTED YOU _DEAD_ BUT IT WAS STILL MY ARM WASN’T IT OH NO I’M SORRY LEWIS I’M SO SO SO SORRY-!”

“Your arm…”

Arthur squeaked as Lewis leaned in closer, inspecting the spectral stump for a moment before turning to look at the mechanical arm idly swaying from Arthur’s corpse’s (NOPE NOPE NOPE NOT THINKING ABOUT IT) shoulder.

“Why is it…?”

(Why was the heart in front of Lewis’s chest cold and dark and crumbling?)

“W-well I mean, in, in the cave, the Thing that used me to, to, to shove you, it was gonna go after Vivi next and I was losing what little control I had left and-!” Arthur’s eyes (eyesockets?) widened as he sucked in a hissing breath, clutching the stump with his remaining hand hard enough that it likely would have bled if it could have.

(If Lewis’s heart had been crumbling before, now it looked fragile enough that a stiff breeze could blow it away.)

Purple-pink light shimmered for a moment, and the false cave vanished, leaving behind the inside of the semi.

Arthur squeaked again, this time backing away from his body as it fell to the floor with a dull thud, no longer held up by Lewis’s ghostly stalagmites.

Actually, why hadn’t Lewis moved?

Arthur dared a glance up at the skeletal ghost who had terrified him at every turn, chasing him all the way to Tempo in his possessed semi truck.

Except he didn’t look skeletal anymore.

Lewis looked almost like he had in life, aside from the sinking black heart before him and the pink glow of his eyes.

His eyes…and the…oh geez…

Arthur maybe-swallowed.

Lewis’s tears hit the ground before him, evaporating into puffs of smoke on contact.

“Wh…what have I…”

Arthur shakily got his knees under him, hesitantly reaching forward with his good hand as if to comfort Lewis.

“WHAT HAVE I DONE?!”

Lewis’s outburst knocked Arthur back, and he slumped against the side of the truck for a moment to regain his bearings. When he looked up, he met Lewis’s eyes, shocked and horrified.

He could see Lewis tensing up as if to run (fly?) away, and he shot to his feet, somewhat off-balance for a moment before taking a hesitant step closer.

His instincts screamed at him to flee.

But so did Lewis’s, it seemed, for he took a step back.

“Lewis, _please…_ ” Arthur’s voice cracked. “I’ve spent the past year trying to find you again, _please_ don’t leave!”

Something in that sentence made Lewis flinch. “You…you didn’t know where I was?”

Arthur blinked before realizing what he’d meant. “Repressed memories, trauma, y'know. Until, uh… _this_ …” he awkwardly gestured to his ghostly self, hovering just above the ground, “…I could remember us walking into the cave, but the next memory I had was of waking up in the hospital without my arm or my best friend. Vivi couldn’t remember you at all, and Mystery was trying to help keep her calm, so I had to go back there on my own later to see if I could find you, but…you weren’t there.”

Arthur took another step forward, and this time Lewis stayed put, though mostly because he was frozen by fear.

And no, the irony wasn’t lost on either of them.

“But, but you’re here now!” Arthur tried to smile. “You’re here, and, and…” His gaze drifted to his unmoving body, the pool of red still spreading ever-so-slowly.

“…and you killed me.”

And whatever had fueled his almost-bravery petered out.

Arthur looked back at Lewis as his face scrunched up, his eyes burning as liquid gold fell to the floor. “You _killed_ me!”

With that ever-so-eloquent statement, he turned and fled out the back of the truck, leaving sparking droplets of golden tears in his wake.

“A-Arthur, _WAIT!_ ”

But he didn’t. He couldn’t bear to be there any longer.

Arthur _did_ end up stopping just outside the truck, but not to let Lewis catch up.

He stopped from sheer horror at the sight before him.

The crazy tree lady from the highway was facing off against Mystery, and-

“VIVI!”

Arthur shot forward, coming to a stop at her side. She cracked an eye open at the sound, only for both of her eyes to fly open. “A-Arthur?!”

He blinked (or did he?) and lifted his hand to his face.

Bone.

_Frick._

“It’s me, Vivi, I’m still me.” He managed. “I, uh…yeah…”

Vivi gave him a shaky smile, then lifted her arm to his good shoulder. “Mind helping me up? That plant spirit is cruisin’ for a bruisin’!”

Arthur huffed a laugh and pulled her to her feet. “I’m just glad you’re still alive.”

Vivi chuckled, but it didn’t sound genuine. “Sheez, Artie, what happened to you?”

He grimaced and clutched his stump. “Do…d'you think i can get a rain check on that until everything calms down?”

“…alright.”

The sound of a shotgun cocking startled Arthur, and he yelped and hid behind Vivi before his thoughts caught up to him.

He wasn’t in danger from any old shotgun anymore.

But Vivi would be.

He peeked over her shoulder, ready to try and fight off whatever vengeful specter had shown up this time-

“Uncle Lance?”

Lance’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, and his grip on the gun slackened. “…Artie? Kid, is…is that you?”

“Heh…yeah…” He scratched the back of his neck(???), unable to meet his uncle’s gaze. “…it’s a long story…”

Lance opened his mouth as if to demand he tell it, but he gasped instead, drawing his shotgun back up and aiming over Arthur and Vivi’s heads.

He may not have had a body to make adrenaline anymore, but he still felt time slow down and speed up in the way only adrenaline can make it.

He heard the furious shriek of the plant lady before he felt her presence looming over him.

His instincts took over, and fast as lightning, he spun around, hooking his arm around Vivi and throwing them both to the ground, screwing his eyes shut and keeping himself between Vivi and the oncoming spirit.

Time returned to normal as the two hit the dirt, an amber construct sparking into being just in time to shield them from the plant lady’s attack.

BANG!

Chk-chk! BANG!

Arthur glanced up at Lance, who poured round after round into the terrifying tree, blowing off bits and pieces with each hit, only for them to grow back as soon as they flew off.

He looked over to where Mystery lay, tired and beaten, but still breathing.

He locked wide eyes with Lewis, still floating in the semi truck, in the same place he’d been when Arthur had escaped.

He looked down at Vivi, making up his mind about something.

And then he sank into the ground.

He got down the rhythm of Lance’s shots, waiting until he had to reload to shoot back into the air.

The plant lady barely had time to step back in surprise before a lightning-infused fist knocked her head clean off her shoulders.

“Uh, okay, that’s new.” Arthur’s voice cracked as he stared at his crackling fingers.

“Kid, she’s growing back!”

His skull snapped back up to see a bonsai tree sprout from her neck.

Magenta tongues of flame burst from Lewis’s semi, Lewis himself nowhere to be seen. Arthur would worry about that in a second, but first-!

“Not this time!” He grabbed hold of the bonsai’s trunk, lifting the unmoving body with ease and hurling her into the fire.

While normal fire wouldn’t have done much of anything to her, ghostly flames consumed her like dry tinder.

When the fire died down, the plant lady was no more.

As well as Lewis’s semi.

Arthur gulped and flew back to Vivi, covering her eyes. “So uh…my body’s over there and I’m not a pretty sight, please don’t look.”

“Darn it, kid, what happened to ya?” Lance’s voice wavered as he took in the scene before him.

“ _That_ would be the long story.” Arthur mumbled. He slowly pulled his hand away, making sure Vivi wasn’t looking, before he floated to his body and…

He swallowed and leaned down, carefully picking up the blackened, flaking heart on the asphalt. “…c'mon, you. Let’s get inside.”

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Wherever he was, it was dark.

There wasn’t a whole lot of anything to notice about the place. It had to exist in some way, otherwise he couldn’t be in it, and it had to be dark, otherwise he’d be able to see.

Or maybe it was bright, and there just wasn’t anything to see.

He couldn’t tell.

The last thing he remembered was watching his flames erupt around him, the emotions he’d been processing finally having sunk in.

His friend had been innocent.

His friend had been innocent, and _he’d killed him._

His friend had been innocent, and _he’d killed him,_ and his friend had still protected the last of their friend group when he himself couldn’t get his form to move.

His friend’s voice filtered into the wherever-he-was.

_…c'mon, you. Let’s get inside._

His friend _still_ wasn’t abandoning him?

If he’d been able to, he’d have tried to hold back a choking sob.

As it was, he didn’t even have the strength to make his heart pulse.

That was where he was, wasn’t it? He was inside his heart again.

Served him right.

Some friend _he’d_ been.

〜〜〜〜〜〜

It had been a few days since The Incident.

Arthur had sequestered himself in his little corner of Lance’s workshop, staring at the two hearts in front of him and idly petting Galaham whenever he came near.

One of the hearts was Lewis’s, still just as dark and fractured as the night he picked it up.

One of the hearts was his own, pulsing a weak blue-red-purple.

He slumped back in his seat, running his thumb over the surface of his heart. “Why’d it have to play out like this?”

His funeral had been a quiet affair. Only a few people had gone, and they’d all known he was still hanging around. Even so, Arthur had watched himself be lowered into the grave and known nothing would ever be the same, whether he was there or not.

Lance’s voice came through the door. “You still in there, Artie?”

“Yeah.” He called back, not looking up from his heart.

“Vivi’s back again.” Lance began. “Art, I really think you oughta talk to her.”

“About what?” He demanded, though without any real venom at first. “I’m dead, her dog was never a dog, and she can’t even remember our missing member, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway because he chased us all the way home and killed me because he thought _I’d_ killed _him,_ except, _oh wait!_ There was something in that _stupid_ cave that _used_ me to kill him!”

He deflated, hugging himself with his arm. “None of that’s really fitting for a chat over coffee.”

The door cracked open anyway, and Vivi poked her head in before Lance could. “Which is _exactly_ why we _should_ talk about it.”

This time, Arthur _did_ look up. “Viv, I just…where do we start? Where do we go from here?”

“I can’t say I know.” Vivi admitted, walking in and sitting beside him. “But y'know what?”

“Hm?” Arthur shifted to keep looking at her.

“That’s never stopped us before, has it?” Vivi asked, leaning on her elbows and giving him a small smile. “So this situation is more of a mess than anything else we’ve faced. That really sucks. But I’m still here, and you’re still here, and Mystery’s still here, and if this ghost guy really is our missing member, he’s here too.”

Arthur’s lips twitched upward in a smile. (because he _did_ have lips, didn’t he? when had he shifted into his more human shape?) “So what you’re saying is…?”

“It’s alright, ‘cause we’re with friends.” Vivi finished for him. She reached for his hand. “Now, come on, Sir Grumpypants! The van won’t fix itself, and at this rate we’ll run into another supernatural mystery before lunchtime!”

Arthur laughed and swatted her hand away, pushing himself to his feet. “Alright, alright, I’m coming!”

“You better be!” Vivi declared, leaving the room with a cackle.

Arthur’s smile fell a bit as he let his heart float back into place.

Lewis’s heart didn’t move.

Arthur sighed and picked it up, sliding it into his vest pocket. “Don’t think you can get out of this, either. I still wanna talk to you at some point, y'know.”

Lewis’s heart pulsed, faintly, weakly, a sickly yellow color flickering from within before falling dim again.

Arthur sagged and floated out the door. Time to face the music.

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Time didn’t seem to run properly in his heart.

It had been either an eternity or a second since the last time his friend had spoken, but he was speaking again.

_Why’d it have to play out like this?_

He knew why, and he had a feeling his friend knew it too.

It was because he’d gone and lost his mind once he’d lost his life.

Would he ever get a chance to truly apologize?

…did he even want to?

No, no, he wanted to apologize, absolutely, he did!

He just…didn’t want to have to look at his friend’s face, knowing his friend was dead and it was _all his fault._

Was this what his friend felt like, now?

No, it couldn’t be.

His friend hadn’t plotted and planned to ensure his death, he’d been _possessed,_ for heck’s sake!

His friend’s death was all on him.

_Don’t think you can get out of this, either. I still wanna talk to you at some point, y'know._

He knew.

Oh, he knew.

How could it be possible for him to be so afraid of talking to his friend when it was all he wanted to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so this was SUPPOSED to be a one-shot. I had an idea and chucked it directly into the void of Tumblr, with no real intentions of doing anything further with it.
> 
> But I couldn't stop my brain from thinking about it, and then I got an anon asking me if I was gonna continue, and…well, judging by the chapter count, I'm pretty sure you can guess what happened next.
> 
> So now I'm taking the two weeks of MSA hyperfixating and cramming them all into one easy-to-browse fic! :D The story's already done, so hopefully you should be able to jump to the next chapter! (if not, i'm still in the process of posting these, so just give it a minute or three. hopefully it'll be up by then! :D)


	2. Realignment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which two ghosts have a talk, if having one of them send their memories and emotions to the other can count as a "talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No content warnings this time! :D Just some emotions going off the rails and hijinks! :D Nothing worrying here! :D
> 
> (no but seriously i don’t think i need to warn for anything this time)
> 
> Arthur’s yell is literally just [the one 19 seconds in.](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FkE4jN2nyVbE&t=YjRhYTAyOGUyNmE1YzBlNjdhNGU1YTlkYzVkN2VmZWExNDVkOGI0MCxKNHBZblR0Qw%3D%3D&b=t%3AtPppTO4fkvgrlvlMZNEjoA&p=https%3A%2F%2Froseverdict.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F189670568560%2Fbent-out-of-shape-part-2-realignment&m=1) You’ll know what I mean when you read it.

Arthur shifted on his bed.

While he didn’t really _need_ to sleep, per se, he was still able to, thank goodness. Or at the very least, he came close enough to it for his purposes.

Vivi would probably be able to tell the difference, but it was 2 in the morning and he was _really_ hoping Mystery had gotten her to go to sleep by now.

So, introspection on the nature of the sleep of the dead it was.

He’d figured out after a…

…well…

〜

HONK! HONK! HONK! HONK! HONK!

“What is that unholy racket, kid?!”

HONK! Vrrr…

“…I’ll go get Vivi.”

Beep-beep!

〜

… _mishap_ …

…with the van that maintaining a human projection took just a _smidgen_ more energy than a skeletal one, so it was his skull that looked back at him from the plastic of Galaham’s feeding station.

…man, that would take some getting used to.

He glanced over at the dull heart on the bedside table. It no longer seemed to be in danger of disintegrating at the slightest wrong touch, but it still looked nothing like the golden heart that had chased him through Lewis’s haunted mansion.

Quietly, so no one in the house (except maybe Mystery, had he been there) could hear, Arthur sighed. “How were you able to adjust, Lewis? Probably had something to do with focusing on other things until it just didn’t bother you or something, heh…”

He almost missed when the dim heart lit up yellow, barely visible to the human eye, but plenty bright enough to catch Arthur’s attention.

He didn’t respond for a moment, his senses on high alert as he waited for Lewis to appear in his room like a whirlwind of wrath and light him on fire…or something. When it became clear nothing of the sort was happening, he relaxed. Slightly.

“…I’m gonna assume you just tried to tell me something, but all I got was ‘yellow.’ Not sure what that’s supposed to mean.”

Lewis’s heart pulsed, weak and unsteady, but much like other supernatural beings, it gave off more than just light.

Arthur cringed as an emotion not his own brushed up against his mind, nearly taking him back to the world of his nightmares, filled with toxic green fog…but the emotion just harmlessly pushed past.

Well, not really an emotion, now that Arthur was really inspecting it. More like a feeling, like the way **you feel you know someone until they _shove you forward and over the edge of a cliff-_**

And Arthur grimaced, shoving that little memory that felt so much like one of his own aside. “Ah. Yeah, that’d definitely occupy your time, wouldn’t it?”

Lewis’s heart flickered for a moment, unsure, before pulsing again, another sensation joining the pinkish light.

**Watching the world fall apart around you, the one you thought was to blame was just as much a victim as you, maybe even more so. You’d planned everything out to give him the ultimate scare before finally dropping the final bombshell…and dropping _him._**

**And now he’s dead.**

**Because of _you._**

**And you can’t help but wonder why he still hasn’t taken your vulnerable, delicate anchor and crushed it in his hand, you _know_ you deserve it-**

“-And I’m gonna stop you right there.” Arthur lifted his hand as if to bat away the rest of the thought. “Look, man, I’m just as shaken up about it as you are. That _Thing_ managed to weasel its way in somehow, which means _I_ must’ve left a weak spot for it. Probably more, knowing me. It _had_ to have latched onto something, right? Maybe…maybe there was a part of me I didn’t even know about that wanted it to happen…”

The thought trailed off as the implications hit him.

If it _were_ true, then he really _would’ve_ been at fault! He really _would_ be to blame!

(Conveniently, or maybe _un_ conveniently, everything he’d ever been told about intrusive thoughts had completely slipped his mind.)

“Oh, geez, Lewis, I never…I-I…” Arthur couldn’t seem to find the words.

Fortunately, Lewis didn’t need words at the moment.

A faint tongue of flame flicked up from the heart’s surface, as if to pull Arthur’s attention back to reality.

It worked a little too well. He flinched and recoiled from the heart, but at least he was paying attention.

The heart pulsed blue and amber, even growing and shrinking ever-so-slightly.

**You watch as he flees from you (and for good reason, you _monster_ ), stops for a moment, and shoots forward, shouting her name at the top of his invisible lungs.**

**You watch as he uses his newfound powers to call forth a shield to protect her. He hadn’t even _used_ his powers yet, besides the standard floating and speed. Protection must just come naturally to him.**

**You watch as he grabs her arm and runs. At the time, you think he’s just using her as a meat shield, but recent events shed a new light on his actions. He was trying to keep her away from you, someone he only knew to be murderous rage incarnate.**

**You watch as he shoves her into the van and drives away from the place where you’d scared him.**

**You watch as he pulls her to her feet outside the truck, one dead, one alive.**

**You watch as he gasps your name, the memory skipping past his fall and straight into his declaration that he hadn’t known where you’d gone.**

**You watch as he pleads for you not to leave, as he cries his past year of searching to the empty air between you.**

**You watch as he shoves you, but instead of focusing on the shape of him in the darkness, you focus on his face. One half is in plain view, and it’s this green-eyed half that laughs at your fate. The hidden side of his face seems to be sobbing.**

**You watch as he reaches to cling to your arm, the only thing keeping him suspended over the deadly outcroppings below. You let your flames engulf your face, snarling at the audacity of his pretend confusion.**

**You watch as he gasps your name, and you let go.**

**You realize what you’ve done.**

**You feel horrified.**

**You feel sick to your nonexistent stomach.**

**But most of all…**

**…you feel ashamed.**

Arthur swallowed. Even without a physical throat, he could still feel a lump welling up in it. “Well…glad to know you aren’t gonna…I dunno, exorcise me in my sleep?”

Another feeble wisp of fire snaps above the heart, bringing with it a brief moment of tired disbelief generally reserved for the worst, most overused puns.

“Well, if we keep on going with this 'I’m guilty,’ 'No, I’M guilty’ thing, we may as well just flip a coin and let _it_ decide.” Arthur huffed. “It’s late. We both have a lot of things we’d change if we could, but we can’t. We can only change the future, and we have to make that change in the present.”

Lewis’s heart pulsed blue for a beat before dimming.

“Yeah, yeah, so what if I pulled it from one of Vivi’s motivational books?” Arthur snorted. “I’ll give it back when I’m done, but those things have gotten me out of many a pickle since…uh, you-know-what.”

Lewis’s heart flashed green for a moment, the brightest color he’d made all week.

“Yeah. Still, though, those quotes help!”

If he closed his eyes, used his ears to focus on the sound of silence, and imagined Lewis’s voice in place of the emotional messages, it was almost like old times.

Almost.

“I’m still sorry, though.”

There was a flash of gold, of **what were we _just_ talking about,** but Arthur wasn’t looking.

“I know, I know, we’re both _super_ messed up, but…” He pulled his knees up to his chest and curled into a little ball. “…I couldn’t keep that _Thing_ from getting in, from doing whatever it pleased…from shoving you off the edge. I don’t think I’ll ever _not_ be sorry.”

There was a long, drawn-out silence, where neither of them moved, or spoke, or pulsed, or did anything of the sort.

Then Lewis’s heart rattled on the nightstand, inching closer and closer to the edge until it didn’t have anything beneath it but air, and still it pressed on.

Arthur made a strangled noise that was probably meant to be a scream, pulling the covers up as if he was 5 again, warding off the monsters under the bed.

But Lewis’s heart didn’t do anything except float towards him in a stuttering, uneasy fashion.

Arthur chanced a look out of his blanket-forged fortress, forcing himself to stop clutching the comforter in a death grip.

Lewis’s heart stopped in front of him, bobbing in the air for a brief moment before dropping onto the mattress without any further fanfare.

Arthur didn’t move at first, still terrified Lewis might reform at any second and burn him the rest of the way into oblivion, but when the dim heart didn’t make any other movements, he hesitantly reached for it. He almost didn’t go through with it, remembering what had happened the last time, but he pressed on.

His hand touched the heart, and he curled around it as if it was one of Vivi’s handmade Mystery plushies.

He couldn’t keep a small smile off his face.

“Heh…thanks, big guy.”

〜〜〜〜〜〜

As one truly slept for the first time in months, and as the other retreated back into his anchor after his exertion, neither of them paid attention to the barely-tangible thread between their anchors.

And even if they had, they wouldn’t have seen the pulses of energy flowing from the larger heart into the dimmer one.

The sleeper shifted, the two hearts quietly clinking together in his grasp.

Then again, maybe they wouldn’t have seen the thread anyway. It was so short, what with the sleeper pressing the anchors so close together, and all.

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Arthur blinked his eyes open with a quiet groan. “…uhng…what hit me?”

Odd. He didn’t remember his blinds being _that_ good at blocking out the light.

Something shifted, and Arthur realized _something was holding him in place._

He got a sinking feeling in his anchor.

Arthur looked up, and up, and _up,_ (which was really more of a “sideways,” but who was gonna correct him?) and felt his entire being freeze up.

Lewis’s ghost didn’t react to his movement, his eyesockets closed (because _that_ made sense) and twitching every so often.

Arthur was still curled up in a ball, like he had been when he’d fallen asleep, but where he’d been holding Lewis’s heart to him before, now Lewis’s arms held _him_ there.

Arthur, having not gotten a good night’s sleep until last night, was still half-asleep, and as such, his instincts moved faster than his thought processes.

He tensed and leapt out of Lewis’s hold with a _very_ intelligent “eeYEHHHHH-HAH!!!”

…and immediately tripped through the floor.

Above him, he heard Lewis startle awake, and a thump from Lance’s bedroom, the clingy grump.

Wait.

Lance’s bedroom?

Arthur’s face took on that nameless expression between pursed lips and a grimace, but then something occured to him and his eyesockets widened.

He shot back up into his room, nearly hitting Lewis in the skull. “I’m okay!”

Lance’s voice still seemed to be coming from his bedroom, thank goodness. “Y'sure 'bout that, kid?”

“Yep!” Arthur called back, holding a finger to his lips…uh, teeth…for Lewis to stay quiet. “Just fell out of bed!”

“Alright, but let me 'n Vivi know if you aren’t feeling a hundred percent, got it?” Lance asked, though his tone suggested a longsuffering smile.

Or maybe that was Arthur’s new spooky ghost powers.

Whichever it was, Arthur mirrored it on his own face. “Got it!”

When Lance didn’t respond, Arthur turned back to Lewis. “Aheheh…sorry 'bout that. Still gotta…still gotta get used to all…this.”

Thankfully, Lewis took it in stride, sitting up on the mattress from where he’d been leaning over the edge. “Yeah, I didn’t realize I’d re-formed in the night, otherwise I’d’ve given you some warning, or space, or…yeahhh…”

Arthur’s brow furrowed, or at least tried to, and he stared at Lewis’s heart. “Lewis…look…”

Lewis glanced down, and a brief second later, his eyesockets went comically wide.

As if disturbed by the two paying it attention, the glowing thread connecting their anchors snapped, a few last flashes of golden light withdrawing into Lewis’s heart, now beating a pale, dim, _steady_ blue-red-yellow.

They watched the colors swirl across its surface for a moment. It kept pace with Arthur’s anchor, the two swirling in sync.

“…did you know this might happen?”

Arthur glanced up at Lewis’s question. “No, not really. This whole 'ghost’ thing is kinda new territory for me.” He chuckled, though it wasn’t really all that funny.

Lewis slumped at the reminder, the cracks in his heart threatening to spread, yellow light pushing its way free. He looked down, supporting his skull in his hands, and supporting _those_ by resting his elbows on his knees. “Gah, Arthur, I-”

“Didn’t we go over this last night?” Arthur interrupted, sitting beside him with a creak of the mattress. “I feel like we went over this last night.”

Lewis held up a finger to retort, to push the issue, to try and explain _just how much worse he was,_ but Arthur was stubborn when he wanted to be, so he just put the finger back down.

“Now c'mon, big guy.” Arthur pushed himself to his feet and hopped an inch or so into the air. “Let’s get you reacquainted with my uncle. Call it practice for Vivi.”

Lewis huffed out a laugh and joined him. “Yeah, alright.”

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Somewhere, something scuttled through the tall grasses on the side of a highway. It paused every now and then, planting its free end on the ground to get a look around and regain its bearings.

Slowly, a logo appeared in its line of sight, a crown on a wrench that its past host had known like the back of his hand.

Heh.

It scurried around the edge of the parking lot, stopping at the sight of the mess it had become.

The thing leaned back in surprise. There had been such delicious discord here recently, and the tantalizing essences swirled into the pain and the sorrow and the… _ooh!_

The delightful self-loathing mixed throughout the entire lot, and the thing feasted on it in blind excitement.

Ahhh…That was the same flavor of self-loathing its host had provided, mixed in with- _was that its host’s purple friend?!_

If the thing had had a mouth, it would’ve been watering.

The thing had hit the jackpot of emotional turmoil.

The sound of metal scraping against asphalt jolted the thing from its fantasies, and it planted its stumpy end behind it, rising to get a better view.

A pair of broken gardening shears rattled against the ground, slowly making their way to the grasses the thing itself hid within.

The thing would’ve chuckled to itself, had it been able. These shears had played a large part in the chaos this parking lot had seen.

Why not give them a little nudge along their way?

The thing scuttled up to the shears, looking them in the eye for a moment before reaching down.

Had anybody been paying attention, they would have seen something from their worst nightmares fling a pair of garden shears into the plants on the side of the road before scuttling off.

Had anybody been looking the right direction, they’d have noticed a tiny tree with a blue trunk sprout up from the shears’ landing place.

Had anybody known the importance of what had just occured, they’d have run into the shop, screaming at the top of their lungs for the mystery-solving trio and their dog.

But nobody noticed.

Nobody saw.

Nobody knew.


	3. Iron It Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Lewis is repeatedly made aware that he's one wrong move away from a bad time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who’s back babey!!! Nothing in the way of content warnings this time either! :D
> 
> finally getting around to some lance and some vivi!!! plus some ominous foreshadowing feat. our favorite tree lady!!!

Lance took a deep breath.

He’d never signed up for this.

Arthur had just finished his ridiculous (grotesque, horrifying, infuriating, _how had it come to this_ ) tale, rocking back and forth on his feet and wiping his hand on his vest.

As if it could still get sweaty and clammy.

Lance made sure to breathe out slowly, carefully, before looking up at the _other_ ghost in the room. “So…you’re back for real, now, huh? None of this ‘hiding in your anchor’ business?”

“…yeah.” For what it was worth, Lewis (and wasn’t _that_ a mind-bender, _Lewis_ the _murderous ghost_ ) had the good sense to curl in on himself, to keep himself from looming over Lance as much as he could.

The thought did another lap in his head: _he’d never signed up for this._

Lance massaged the bridge of his nose, working his way up to his temples. “Look. Lewis. You were a good kid.”

“W-well, thank-”

“I’m not finished.”

Lewis’s hopeful expression fell, and he looked away. “Er, sorry.”

“Good.” Lance snapped, his calm demeanor slipping. “You _were_ a good kid. But now I hear you came back from death itself, no small feat, and, what, immediately went after Artie? The kid you’ve stuck by since second grade?? The one who joined you on a trip to a _HAUNTED CAVE???_ ”

“Uncle Lance, I’ve _shown_ you Vivi’s research on ghostly obsessions-!” Arthur cut in, but Lance just cut him right out again.

“You can’t be serious, kid!” He threw his arms up in abject confusion. “You barely got _any_ sleep after losing your arm, and whenever you _did,_ you always woke up screaming! Don’t think I couldn’t hear you! And now you’re trying to _defend_ him? The one you spent all this time looking for? The one who just…just _threw you to your death without trying to get his facts straight?!_ ”

Arthur scratched lightly at his stump. “I-it wasn’t really a _throw_ as much as a _drop…_ ”

_“That’s semantics and you know it!”_ Lance let his arms fell back to his sides. “Artie, look at you! You’re not even _alive_ anymore!”

“But I’m still _here!_ ” Arthur protested, eyes aglow as he pressed his hand to his chest, begging Lance to listen. “I’m still here and I’m _telling_ you it’ll be _fine!_ ”

" _YOUR BEST FRIEND MURDERED YOU IN COLD BLOOD!_ "

Arthur took a quick step back, hand raised in surprise.

Lance shuddered, crossing his arms and reining himself back in. “That doesn’t sound very 'fine’ to me.”

It took a moment to pull together a response, but Arthur managed it. “That’s exactly what Lewis thought I’d done to _him._ ”

“But he didn’t have the full picture-!”

“And you _do?_ ” Arthur asked. His heart beat gold and purple, with red and blue flitting about the edges. “You didn’t see him, after I came to. You weren’t there when he froze up, finally putting together the truth of what really happened.”

Lance gaped.

“He’s been in his anchor for a week. A _week,_ Uncle Lance.” Arthur went on. “You’ve heard enough of Vivi’s rambling to know what it takes to get a ghost to dissipate, haven’t you? Either they get exorcised, they fulfill their purpose-”

“Or they’re dealt a devastating blow to their obsessions.” Lance finished for him with a sigh.

“Like, say, learning the subject of your obsession was innocent and now you want to protect them, except you’ve already gone through with your plan for vengeance and they’re probably completely terrified of you now, at best?” Arthur lifted an eyebrow and planted his hand on his hip.

Lance didn’t answer for a long while, but his hands started shaking, clenching around his forearms, long before he spoke. “…Artie, I can’t just go on like nothing’s changed.”

“And you don’t have to.” Arthur managed a small smile and shrug. “Just…let’s see how things go from here?”

Lance pulled him into a crushing hug, all the better to hide the stinging moisture in his eyes. “…heh, when did you get so good at emotions, kid?”

“Beats me.” Arthur snorted, holding him tight.

Once Lance had managed to calm back down, he let go and turned to where Lewis had been sitting. “Alright, fine, you’ve got one morrrrrwhere’d he go?”

Lewis was gone.

Arthur looked over at the empty spot. “He must have left while we were arguing. I’ll go find him.”

Lance watched his nephew _float through the wall_ and slumped against the kitchen counter, reaching to massage his temples again.

He’d never signed up for _any of this._

〜〜〜〜〜〜

“Lewis? Where’d you go?”

Arthur peeked into several rooms until he found Lewis.

Who was hovering in front of a window facing out at Kingsmen Mechanics…and the damage done when the van crashed into it.

“Found you!” Arthur said, mostly just to get his attention without startling him.

It didn’t work.

Lewis jolted from his thoughts and spun to face him. “Your uncle, he said you hadn’t been sleeping. You…you really _were_ torn up about it, weren’t you?”

“Well, I mean…yeah?” Arthur shrugged.

Lewis didn’t reply, only wrapping his arms around himself.

“Hey, since we’re asking heavy questions right now, I’ve got one for you.” Arthur came up beside him, glancing out the window before looking Lewis in the sockets. “When we were in the truck, what made you believe me so easily? All our research on ghosts said they… _we_ …would only get more stubborn with time.”

After a moment, Lewis began, “You’ve probably had an easier time figuring out how people are feeling lately, right? Even if you shouldn’t really be able to?”

“…yeah, actually. How’d you know?”

“It turns out spirits in general are really sensitive to stuff like strong emotions. Not just the ones that feed on them, all spirits.” Lewis explained. “While you were talking, you had horror, self-loathing, and heartbreak rolling off you in waves. Not exactly the kind of stuff you get off a liar.”

Arthur had to admit, that had pretty much been his reaction, all rolled up into a scant two sentences.

And it seemed Lewis was trying to keep his own little breakdown under wraps.

“Y'mean like you’ve got right now?” Arthur pointed out, poking Lewis’s shoulder.

Lewis snorted and batted his hand away, and the overwhelming sensation of **you did this to him** faded just a little. “Maybe.”

“C'mon, Uncle Lance wanted to _actually_ talk to you.” Arthur reached forward, offering his hand.

Lewis looked at it for a second, seeing green where there wasn’t any, before the memory faded away and he was left with his friend and the tattered remains of their friendship.

He took the hand.

“Alright, I’m coming.”

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Lance took pride in how he didn’t flinch when Arthur and Lewis came back in.

He strode up to them, glaring up at Lewis’s skull-and then it wasn’t a skull, it was a human face he’d grown to cherish as much as the nephew who felt more like a son.

And it was the face Arthur had seen before falling to his death.

“Alright, me and Arthur were talking, and he managed to convince me to lighten up some.” Lance crossed his arms, somehow overshadowing Lewis while still being the shortest one in the room. “You’ve got one more shot. Make the most of it, and we can try to move past this…”

What was the right word?

“…absolute madhouse of a clusterfu-er, fiasco.” He eventually decided on. As he continued, he jabbed his finger at Lewis, eventually pressing into his chest. “But if you waste it, if you break Artie’s spirit again, then you’ll have _me_ to deal with, and no force on this or _any other_ plane of existence will be able to keep me from _exorcising you to kingdom come._ Got it?”

Lewis’s eyes were impossibly wide as he nodded, faster than he probably should have. “Got it, Mr. Kingsmen!”

Lance searched his face for any signs of deceit, and upon finding none, closed his eyes and leaned back. “Good.”

Arthur slapped his face, dragging his hand down until it fell back to his side. “Well, that’s one down. You wanna go find Vi?”

“Sure.” Lewis gave a much saner nod this time, turning to face Arthur (but, Lance noted with no small measure of satisfaction, keeping Lance himself in view the whole time) with a small smile.

“Go have fun, you crazy kids.” Lance huffed, turning to face the fridge (and the medicine cabinet). “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Alright, _Mom!_ ” Arthur snarked, grabbing Lewis’s arm and pulling him out the door.

(It made sense, really. After what he’d told Lance, he’d be surprised if the kid could ever bring himself to _push_ his friend again, even in jest.)

Lance waited until he couldn’t hear them any longer, then cracked open the medicine cabinet, making a beeline for the ibuprofen.

Looked like he’d just signed up for this, after all.

〜〜〜〜〜〜

“All told, I think that went well!” Arthur declared, a skip in his step when he touched down on the ground, and a little dance in his bones when he didn’t.

Lewis snorted, watching Arthur make a fool of himself on the deserted path. “Yeah, considering _everything,_ I’m surprised he didn’t get that shotgun back out.” A thought occured to him. “Actually, was he _always_ able to do that?”

“What, fire a shotgun?” Arthur asked, scratching his skull in thought. “He’s been a master marksman as long as I’ve been al-er, as long as I’ve known him, why?”

“No, not that!” Lewis waved his hand as if to clear something away from his face. “I meant that thing where he looks up at you, but he’s _really_ angry and you feel even tinier than _he_ is. Is that new?”

“Might be?” There came a little shrug. “I’ve never been on the receiving end of anything like that, though, so I couldn’t say.”

“Hm.” Lewis let it go, letting the desert’s relative silence do the talking for a moment.

…except it wasn’t “relative.” The only sounds came from beyond the cacti, from the freeway they could barely see. Occasionally, Arthur’s footsteps would break up the deafening silence, but those came less and less as he caught on to the lack of life around them.

“You have any clue what this is?” Arthur finally murmured, his former levity gone.

“Not a one.” Lewis shuddered, unconsciously floating closer to Arthur. “Y'think we should be worried?”

Arthur bit his lip as soon as his human projection swirled into place. “I dunno. Maybe?”

“…let’s just get to Vivi’s.”

Arthur nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

The two ghosts sped up, leaving behind a flurry of sand swirling in the air.

Had they paid attention, they’d have seen how unnaturally still the sands before them were.

But they didn’t.

〜〜〜〜〜〜

“Hey, Art!”

Vivi beamed at her friend and stepped aside. “Come on in!”

Arthur chuckled (nervously, _why is he nervous_ ) and didn’t take her up on her offer to go inside. “Actually, I’ve got some news. You up for a bit of a surprise?”

Vivi blinked, but didn’t let Arthur’s strange demeanor get to her. “Uh, sure. Shoot.”

Arthur didn’t say anything more, merely floating to the side so Vivi could see the other person with him.

The ghost from the manor (their missing friend, if Arthur was to be believed) fidgeted with his hands. “Uh…hi, Vivi.”

Vivi felt a migraine coming on, but managed to shove it to the side. _(How was she able to do that, and why now, of all times?)_ “…'a bit of a surprise,’ Artie?”

Arthur shrugged, his face flaring gold in sheepishness. “Well, was I wrong?”

“No, not really.” Vivi snorted, stepping outside and shutting the door behind her. She leaned back against it and looked up at The-Manor-Ghost-Who-Was-Apparently-Her-Long-Lost-Friend. “So, Art, what’s the situation?”

(It seemed Pinky was too busy looking at her eyes to respond, anyway.)

“Well, I was trying to sleep, or whatever it is ghosts do instead of sleep, but I couldn’t. Wound up having a bit of a heart-to-heart with Mister Tall, Dark, And Spooky here instead, and when I woke up…” Arthur trailed off for a moment before finishing with a shrug, “…he’d reformed.”

“And does anybody else know he’s out of his anchor?” Vivi asked, turning to face Arthur this time.

“I’m right here, y'know-”

“ _Hush,_ you.”

Arthur stifled a laugh at their banter. “Just Uncle Lance. We took the scenic route around the bluffs to get here, so hopefully nobody saw us.”

“Gotcha.” Vivi turned her gaze back on Elvis McGhostFace and cranked up the intimidation. “Have you gotten the whole 'harm a hair on his skull one more time and be eviscerated’ spiel from Lance, or do I have to do it? _Because I totally can, if needbe._ ”

Casper The Headache-Inducing Ghost nodded frantically, holding his hands up in surrender. “Don’t worry, I got the memo loud and clear.”

“You’d better have.” Vivi pressed it for a bit longer before sighing, the steel in her posture melting away. “Now, on to business. If this is our long-lost best bud, I can’t remember. But!” She lifted a finger to cut off any interruptions from the others. “I felt like I was on the brink of getting it all back in the mansion. Now that we’re all _getting along…_ ”

She gave Skelly-Face a sidelong glance before going on.

“…how'sabout we try that again?”

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Her awareness returned to her slowly, in unstable chunks.

Where was…?

_…the mortals’ smithy._

There was a more accurate word for the place, but it evaded her at the moment.

Evaded.

Evaded her pursuit.

She’d been pursuing something, and for a moment her goals had been semi-aligned with the specter she’d reawakened.

Reawakened.

Was she reawakening? Was that what was happening?

As more and more fell back into place, she felt herself grow further and further out.

Much like her memories taking root in her mind, she herself took root in the soil, brushing tendrils of her being across her less… _active_ …kin.

Where was she?

The chorus of life answered, _near to the battlefield._

How had she gotten here?

The slow, steadfast tones of the cacti replied, _a being of terrible power and diminuitive stature replanted your blades._

How long had she been adrift?

The tinkling notes of countless flora explained, _the sun has risen seven times since your fall._

Her fall…?

The last of her memories slotted into place, and she felt destructive rage overtake her.

The song that had answered her and seen her as a part of its whole grew discordant, her very being wrapping around the nearest singers until they could only echo her will.

In the voices of a thousand blooming cacti, silent but earth-shaking, she roared.

_You can’t run forever, mutt!_


	4. Unfolding The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vivi remembers everything, Mystery explains some of the rules of magic, and Arthur has to be the one to break bad news to the rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright fellas, now we can _really_ get down to business! Also yeah uh I’ve been forgetting to use the “mystery skulls animated” tag instead of just “msa” so uh. FIXED THAT FOR THIS ONE. I’ll go back and edit the rest once I’m done with this whole thing but for now! Hiya, main MSA tag! _It’s big Ghost!Arthur hours rn!_
> 
> Still no content warnings, aside from mentions of death, but like. They’re making the point that even dying won’t stop the Mystery Skulls from kicking butt. That’s literally it.

Lewis blinked, glancing between Vivi and his anchor. “Are…are you sure? You were _there_ when I…I just…”

“Well, I’m not gonna be at 100 percent unless I can stop blanking out whenever I see a picture or hear a name.” Vivi countered, raising an eyebrow. “And if we really _were_ as close as Artie says we were, it’s gotta be torture for you, too, right? Knowing I’m right here but that I couldn’t tell you from any old Joe Schmoe on the street right now?”

Lewis tried (and failed) to hide a wince.

“ _Sooo,_ if I can get my memories back, both of us will have a better time of it! And if your death really _was_ as horrifying to watch as you say it was, wouldn’t that be offset by me knowing you’re right here, right now?” Vivi pressed on, determined to get to the bottom of things and _oh he’d missed her so much._

“Well…you might wanna sit down for this.” Lewis relented. “I’m not sure if this’ll overload your brain for a moment or what, but at least if you’re already sitting down, you can’t fall over.”

Vivi grinned, her eyes sparkling as she opened her back door again. “ _Now_ we’re talking! Get in here, you two! We’re gonna fix things, once and for all!”

Lewis caught a worried-yet-hopeful grin from Arthur before he followed Vivi inside, and Lewis felt his anchor grow lighter.

Time to make things right.

He floated into the house, closing the door behind him.

It seemed Vivi hadn’t redecorated much since the last time he’d been over. There were a few new photos of Vivi with a tired Arthur in front of different caves, in front of the van, with her family…and yet none of the images with _him_ had been removed.

“You kept these?” Lewis found himself reaching to touch the plastic of the cheap picture frame before him, one showing himself, Vivi, and Arthur as kids. Arthur had just gotten Galaham, and was showing him off to the camera while Vivi snuck up behind him with a glint in her eyes and Lewis rushed after her.

Vivi’s question hurt more than he cared to admit.

“Kept what?”

He looked back to see her eyes following his movements, but dazed and empty.

“…y'know what? Let’s bench that topic for a hot second.” Lewis dropped his hand and joined Vivi and Arthur in the main room. “Are you sure you can handle getting everything back?”

Vivi snapped back to awareness with a blinding grin. “Of course!”

“Ah, I see you’re up?” Mystery came trotting into view, hopping onto the couch with a quiet “hup” of effort.

“Yep. Already got the ‘don’t mess this one up’ talk from Vivi and Lance, too, so don’t feel pressured to repeat it for me.” Lewis crossed his legs and hovered next to Vivi. “We were just about to try and fix her memory problem.”

Mystery chuffed, fixing his gaze on Lewis’s and _since when had he had this kind of ancient power roiling beneath his dog form???_ “I doubt I’d have to even say it, would I?”

Lewis went through the motions of swallowing, sockets wide. “No, I don’t, don’t think so.”

Mystery smirked, the expression odd to see on a small dog’s face, and let his aura simmer down. “Well, there you go.”

“Alright, _alright,_ now that’s over with, let’s see those memories!” Vivi bounced excitedly in her seat.

“Then…here goes.” Lewis let his heart float forward, beating bluer and bluer with every passing moment until it floated into Vivi’s hands-

And, though he wouldn’t realize it until later, both of them collapsed, one onto her side, and the other into his anchor for the brief moment it took to set the record straight.

That brief moment, however, lasted an infinity.

Lewis found himself floating in the void of his anchor, already more alert than he had been the last time.

Part of it was likely due to the circumstances leading up to this point in time being drastically different from the horror-stricken grief that had overcome him in the semi.

The rest was because Vivi was there with him.

“Well, this is certainly something.” She mused, looking all around her until her eyes landed on Lewis. “Hey! Ghost-face! What now?”

Lewis shrugged. “I’ve never really had a chance to practice this before. I guess I just try to bring up your memories-?”

And they were surrounded by countless images and sounds and scents and tastes and sensations of all kinds, the spicy-sweet taste of the Pepper Paradiso mingling with the savory scents of traditional Yukino recipes.

_Hey! Who put a jalapeño in Artie’s shake? Cayenne, do you have something to do with this…?_

_I bet I can beat you nerds to the van!_

_Hahaha, stahahahahp, you know I’m ticklish, **L-!**_

_Ohohoho, you’re in for it now, **Pepp-!**_

_Well, Artie’s birthday is coming up, and I figured we could surprise him with one of your family’s famous cakes!_

_Lemme go! I gotta pet the baby hamster, **Lew-!**_

_Hi! My name’s Vivi! What’s yours?_

_**Lewis?** That’s a nice name!_

_Allow me to translate from Arthur-ese: **Lewis,** dearest, wouldst thou passeth me mine screwdriver?_

_**LEWIS,** YOUR SISTERS ARE GANGING UP ON US AGAIN! JOIN YOUR FELLOW TEENAGERS IN THIS PILLOW WAR!_

**_Lewis,_ ** _be a dear and tell Art he needs to go to sleep, would you?_

_I love you so much, **Lewis Pepper.**_

**_Lewis!_ **

_-but **Lewis,** I-_

_-come on, **Lewlew** -!_

_-what the-?!_

**_Lewis?_ **

**_LEWIS???_ **

_OH, NO NO NONONO, **LEWIS!**_

**_LEEEWIIIIIS!!!_ **

Vivi sucked in a deep breath, the overwhelming onslaught of love and fear and _somebody’s gotta be the mom friend it may as well be me_ and _why does my heart hurt so much when I can’t remember a thing_ and _why can’t I remember???_ and countless other emotions slamming into her from every direction, and even a few directions that simply Weren’t.

As her brain did somersaults, she looked up at Lewis (and he could _see_ her mind making the connections now, nothing like the blank looks from before) with wide, teary eyes. “L-Lewis…?”

“Hi, Vivi.” Lewis managed a small smile and wave. “Sorry I left.”

“LEWIS!” Vivi cried, leaping up in the space between spaces and grabbing his skull in her hands, pressing a kiss against his teeth with such fervor, Lewis worried she might make him phase through her. “YOU’RE HERE!”

Lewis felt tears start running down his face, and he reached to hug Vivi like he’d dreamed of for oh-so-long-!

And Vivi shoved away from him, betrayal in her eyes. “And, and you _dropped Artie!_ OFF A _CLIFF!!!_ ”

Lewis blinked, switching gears. It seemed she was reorganizing her every thought since his death…including the more recent ones. “I-I…yeah…”

Vivi rubbed furiously at her eyes before jabbing a finger into Lewis’s chest. “You’ve got a _lot_ of work to do to fix this, buster!”

“…I know…” Lewis looked away, his anchor (or at least a representation of it) threatening to splinter blue and gold.

“But…” Vivi’s face softened, and she pulled Lewis into a bear hug, burying her face into his shoulder. “…I’m glad you’re here.”

This time, she let him return the embrace, only letting go when Lewis’s anchor forced them back into the physical world.

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Arthur jolted when Lewis flickered and Vivi slumped over. _“Whoa-!”_

“Don’t fret, Arthur.” Mystery didn’t even look up, instead remaining laser-focused on Vivi. “Her mind will need a moment to reassimilate her lost memories, but she will be alright.”

“W-well, that’s good.” Arthur relaxed at the assurance, sitting back in his chair.

Lewis blearily blinked his eyesockets open, (when had they closed?) almost immediately scrunching them up in a grin. “I think everything’s back in place!” Quieter, he added on an, “At least, I _hope_ so.”

“Magic is all about intent, Lewis.” Mystery chuckled. “If you meant to restore her memories, then her memories are restored.”

Lewis’s heart beat a little stronger at that, but before he could respond, Vivi groaned, waking up. The ghosts felt their hearts freeze and Mystery held his breath as Vivi opened her eyes and her hands, letting Lewis’s anchor snap back into place as she looked him in the eyesockets. A smile played on her lips. “Heya, Lew.”

Lewis’s human face flared up over his skull, the better to show his teary smile. “Hi, Vi.”

“I missed you.” Vivi pushed herself upright, only to groan and clutch her head. “Oof, _this_ is a new flavor of headache, ain’t it…?”

Mystery padded across the couch to curl up on her lap. “That would likely just be an effect of having years upon years of memory shoved back into place in the blink of an eye. Once you’ve gotten a chance to recover, you should be just fine.”

“Want me to get you some painkillers?” Arthur asked, already getting up.

“Would you, please?” Vivi turned her wavering but _oh-so-genuine_ grin on him. “Thank you, Artieee…”

Arthur chuckled, his anchor dancing a warm turquoise-violet-crimson in front of his chest, nothing like the sickly glow from the week before. “No prob, Vi.”

He took a quick glance over his shoulder, committing the sight to memory with one particularly strong pulse from his heart.

Lewis held Vivi’s head in his lap, and the two only had eyes for each other now. Mystery had closed his eyes, content to let Vivi idly scratch behind his ears. There may have been a few differences from the last time he’d seen it, (Lewis’s ghostliness and Mystery’s willingness to tell them where to pet him, for starters) but the familiarity in the scene brought a warmth to his chest he hadn’t felt since long before the Cave.

He’d fought so hard to bring them all back together, hadn’t he? Even when he didn’t have all the clues, even when he hadn’t even been able to bring up the puzzle to one of its key pieces…and here they all were.

Together.

Happy.

Arthur smiled, the warm glow of his eyes and hair lighting the way as he opened the bathroom door. He flicked on the light, since it was still dark outside, and started rummaging through the medicine cabinet.

…wait. Hold up.

Arthur glanced at the clock over the bathroom door.

9:27.

Lance had been about to make breakfast before Arthur and Lewis had pulled him aside.

It had been sunny out when Arthur and Lewis had gotten to Vivi’s.

Arthur felt the warmth in his soul dissipate, and he dimmed his hair as much as he could before peeking outside.

That uh. That was a _lot_ of plants. Some were plants he’d grown up seeing around Tempo, others were varieties he’d only seen on road trips with Lewis and Vivi, and still others were trees he was sure belonged _much_ further north, or even on a completely different continent.

And as he watched, they kept growing and growing and growing.

Arthur slipped away, continuing on as normally as he could, grabbing a bottle of headache relievers and power-walking (power-floating?) back down the hall.

The others hadn’t moved from their places, seemingly unaware of the tension growing outside their little bubble of peacefulness. Arthur hated to be the one to pop it, but…

“Hey, Vivi, I’ve got your painkillers. I hope they’re fast-acting, because I think we’ve got a problem.”

The calm atmosphere shattered with his words.

Mystery perked his ears up, and then he tensed, leaping to the ground to pace.

“Wh-Arthur? Mystery?” Lewis asked, almost getting up before remembering Vivi, running a hand through her hair as she sat up instead. “What’s going on?”

Arthur answered his question with another question, tossing Vivi the pill bottle and hooking his thumb back to point to the closed windows behind him. “Doesn’t it seem a little _dark_ outside to you? Since it’s, like, _9:30 in the morning, and all?_ ”

“Arthur, what is going on outside?” Mystery demanded, and for once the flickering of scarlet shadows behind him _didn’t_ wreak havoc on Arthur’s mental state. (Though, as he thought on it, it may have just been that the sight outside terrified him more than Mystery now.)

“I was going for Vivi’s meds when I realized something was wrong. _Very_ wrong.” Arthur explained. “When I took a quick look, I didn’t see the desert we usually see. There’s a complete Franken-forest outside! There’s all the usual stuff, but there’s oaks and maples and even pine trees out there, too!”

“That sounds like it might be the tree spirit from last week!” Vivi gasped, then glanced over at Arthur. “Didn’t you chuck her into Lew’s flaming truck, though? I thought she was dust in the wind now.”

Mystery bristled, unconvinced. “Did you make sure to get all of her? Her form? Her jewelry? Her robe? Her shears?”

Arthur’s forehead pulled together in a frown as he thought, floating to his feet. “Form, yeah, jewelry, yep, robe, yesiree, her shears…?”

He froze, then went over the list again, more nervous this time. “Form, jewelry, robe, shears???”

His eyesockets flew wide as he stared off into the distance. “I…I didn’t see them. I’d assumed they’d been burned, but _I didn’t actually see them!_ ”

Well.

Crap.

As he began pacing, Mystery spat. Not as a normal dog would drool, but as a person might spit out a curse word when angry.

Whatever he’d said, Vivi did a double take, hopping off the couch. “Wow, okay. _Big_ bad news, then. What do we do?”

Arthur watched as Mystery stopped and turned to them, almost taken aback at Vivi’s question. “What-? What do you do? _You run and hide, praying she doesn’t find you!_ ”

Arthur let his human face crackle into place to better convey just how little he thought of _that_ plan. “Yeah, no. Vivi asked what _we_ do. As in _all of us._ ”

“Besides, if _you’ve_ been running and hiding from her, I don’t think that’s gonna cut it anymore.” Lewis added, crossing his arms and rising to his full height.

“Now that’s all cleared up, I’ll ask you again.” Vivi threw her arms around the guys’ shoulders, a humorless grin on her lips and a stubborn glint in her eyes. “Mystery, _what do we do?_ ”

Mystery seemed taken aback at the trio’s fire. “I…I…”

“Look, Mystery, my two best friends are ghosts who stuck around, my so-called 'pet’ is an ancient kitsune, my family apparently has latent magical powers that I’ve just discovered in the past week, and there’s a plant spirit trying to take that all away.” Vivi deadpanned. “I’m not about to let that happen, _got it?_ ”

Arthur watched as Mystery tried to find some way to convince her to stand down (as if she ever would!), but he backed down, a defeated grin slipping onto his face. “And I suppose you two feel the same? Arthur? Lewis?”

“Well, I mean, yeah?” Arthur gestured idly with his stump. “You guys are kinda everything to me. I don’t know _what_ I might become if you guys get hurt, and I don’t think I _ever_ wanna find out.”

Lewis nodded, adding his own points to Arthur’s. “If it’s anything like what _I_ turned into, then it’s probably best we never learn. But there’s only one way we can try to keep everything under control.”

“So, Mystery, what are we up against?” Arthur asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> made some minor edits. by which i mean _i forgot to have artie give vivi the pain meds and i needed to fix that or i'd scream skdhskcbskdjd_


	5. Forever Creased

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Mystery is insanely proud of his pups, and then Lance shows up with some more bad news. (Feat. A Bit More Worldbuilding/Headcanon Tomfoolery)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i lost my first post to the tumblr draft void and i dont wanna try to rewrite my original note xksjdkkdjd **_rip me_**
> 
> Content warnings: None! :D At least, I don’t think so. It’s the same sort of stuff as the past few parts so it should be fine. ~~I’m super-tired skxbskcbdkdjd~~

Mystery laughed, a quiet, disbelieving laugh. (When had his pups become so strong?) “Well, it is a long, winding tale, but one we may not have time for. Suffice it to say, the plant spirit, Shiromori, has been after me for a long time. She craves the power that she receives from my lifeblood, and she’s proven to me before that she’s willing to bleed me dry if given the chance.”

Vivi was already pacing, holding a hand to her chin in thought. “Hm, yeah, the lifeblood of a kitsune would definitely fall under ‘ultimate power-up,’ wouldn’t it?” She turned back to them and threw a fist into her empty palm, a determined grin growing. “We’ll just have to make sure she never gets the chance, then!”

“How are we gonna stop her?” Arthur asked. “I doubt she’d just let us waltz on up and yeet her into Lewis’s flames this time. We’ve already done that once, so she _has_ to be expecting it.”

“Whatever we do, we have to figure it out soon. It’s getting darker and darker already.” Lewis pointed out.

“Hey, Mystery, y'think you could help me work out my magic some before we go out there, fists a-swinging?” Vivi asked. “ _You’re_ an ancient fox spirit, and Art and Lewis can’t die _again,_ but I wanna be able to hold my own if this Shiromori targets me again.”

The idea made him pause. Vivi, for all her boisterous, blustering enthusiasm, was still only human. Granted, a human who kept the company of powerful spirits and held the strongest magic in her family’s bloodline for _generations,_ but…

…still so easily snuffed out.

“If you two wanna get started on a crash course in supernatural self-defense, I can go keep an eye out?” Arthur suggested, pointing out the window. “In case Shiromori shows up and we need to get ready to throw down?”

“Please do.” Mystery nodded, the idea setting him a bit more at ease. “If any of the plants start doing anything more than growing, give us a shout. She will be well on her way here by then.”

“I’ll go with you.” Lewis set a hand on Arthur’s left shoulder before he could leave. “Two heads are better than one, right?”

Mystery watched with a small smile as Arthur grinned. “Right. C'mon, let’s go keep watch.”

As the ghosts left the living room, Vivi turned back to him. “So, how’s this whole 'magic’ thing supposed to work?”

Mystery’s fond smile shifted to a more stern line. It was time to inform Vivi of her true strength.

“At its core, magic is a manifestation of will. Supernatural beings have an easier time of accessing it, due to the lack of solidity holding them together.” He began, noting with pride how Vivi paid rapt attention. “The physical form of the average human gives them plenty of opportunities to change the world around them, so any dormant magical power within them often stays that way. Only in the events of an emotionally intense moment, or a terrible death, will that magic make itself known.”

“You mean like that whole mess at Kingsmen?” Vivi asked, eyes wide.

“ _Exactly_ like that whole mess at Kingsmen.” Mystery nodded. “In the case of dying, the magic almost always congeals into a ghostly form around the dead person’s soul, affected by their personality and the way they died.”

Vivi’s eyes drifted to the hallway Lewis and Arthur had gone down, and Mystery hurried to draw her mind back to the impromptu lesson.

“In _your_ case, however, you were surrounded by supernatural beings as emotions ran higher and higher until finally…” He flicked his paw to the side, trying to figure out how to phrase it. “…the magic within your spirit awoke. We can work on finer control and formal incantations later. The quickest way to bring it back to the surface, at least at first, is to try and recreate the emotions you were feeling at the time. So, Vivi…”

She blinked, her mind already whirling as Mystery finished.

“What _exactly_ were you thinking about?”

Vivi frowned, plopping back down on the couch. “Well, I was confused, but more than that…I knew whatever was going on wasn’t gonna end well. Lewis was back, even though I didn’t know it, and Arthur wasn’t in the van when I came to, so he had to have been in danger. There was a crazy plant lady, Shiromori, trying to get to you, so _you_ had to have been in danger. All I could do was grab my bat and start swinging, and _heaven help anyone who hurt my friends-!_ ”

Mystery gasped. The sight of a magic-user intentionally calling forth their power for the first time still filled him with the same awe as it had hundreds of years ago.

Vivi’s fists crackled and snapped with the deathly chill of a thousand midwinter nights, and frost slowly inched over her skin. Her heart still beat, so he knew she wasn’t giving herself frostbite, but as the ice bloomed up her forearms, he found himself shivering in the sudden cold.

The movement seemed to snap Vivi out of her trancelike state, and the biting cold receded with her surprised giggle. “Whoa…did I do this?” She lifted her fists up to her face, watching the ice melt into thin air until she could move her fingers freely again.

“I do believe you’re one of the most powerful mages I’ll ever have the pleasure of tutoring.” Mystery managed a dumbfounded chuckle. “Congratulations, Vivi.”

“Sweeeeeeet…” A wide grin slowly worked its way onto Vivi’s face, and she seemed to be about to ask him something, but-

Thud-thud! Thud-thud-thud!

Click! Squeeeak…

Thwack!

“UNCLE LANCE?!”

Arthur’s voice drowned out Lewis’s shout of “Mr. Kingsmen!!!” when it came a split second later.

Mystery was peering out at the entryway in a blink, and Vivi wasn’t far behind.

Arthur and Lewis looked to be getting Lance inside and away from the foliage outside, with Lewis holding the door shut as Arthur propped Lance up to sit against the wall.

“Mr. Kingsmen! Are you okay?” Vivi yelped, rushing forward to help Arthur keep him upright.

Lance coughed, and while he spat up orange-brown chunks, a moment’s glance assured them all that it was just sand, as did Galaham’s squeaking in his pocket.

Although that begged the question of just _why he was coughing up sand in the first place._

“Y'know that loopy tree woman?” He countered, pushing himself up with the mangled remains of his shotgun and wheezing for air. “She popped up in the parking lot and started ransacking the place, probably for _you._ ” He nodded to Mystery before continuing. “She got fed up with not knowing where you’d gone and just…raised a _pine tree,_ of all things, right through the lot before leaving. I got hit with the sand she kicked up, but aside from that and…” a gasp, “…and running all the way here when I’m _not_ in my prime anymore, I’m fine.”

After remembering _oh right, he’d blown his cover,_ Mystery gave each of his pups a quick nod. “Get him to a chair for him to catch his breath, and then we have to move.”

“Got it.” Arthur returned the nod, helping Lance get to his feet and down the hall.

“From what I heard, it sounded like the magic lesson was going well?” Lewis offered them a grin.

Vivi beamed and wiggled her fingers. “Yeah! Turns out I’ve got some super- _cool_ ice magic powers!”

Lewis chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Sounds like you were having a bla- _wait._ ”

He narrowed his eyes at her.

She turned the cheekiness up to 11.

Mystery wished he had a hand with which to slap his face.

Vivi broke the standoff first. “Hahahah, no but seriously, I think I had Mystery shivering from the cold, and I had some _sick_ ice boxing-glove-thingies!”

Lewis’s face filled with the dopiest, most love-struck smile Mystery had seen in quite a while, and he just let the silence speak for him.

Arthur chose this moment to come back. “Alright, Uncle Lance is all set up, and I think I did something?” He lifted his hand in explanation, letting a few residual sparks fade away. “I’m not sure what, but I’m pretty sure Shiromori’s not gonna be able to touch him now. Magic and intent, right, Mystery?”

Mystery tilted his head, feeling for the hastily-erected ward in the living room, crackling with Arthur’s trademark DIY-ness but unceremonious and steady and _safe._ He smiled. “Indeed. He should be alright as long as we take care of Shiromori soon.”

“Then let’s get _cracking!_ ” Vivi threw a fist into the air, shimmering ever-so-slightly from the magic still flitting about her edges.

〜〜〜〜〜〜

If things had been different, Vivi figured the sight around her would have flung her to cloud nine and beyond. A spectral entity of incredible power, manifesting in the desert with flora from all across the world, with the ability to assume a more mobile humanoid form? It wouldn’t just make her day, it’d make her _year!_

But Shiromori wasn’t there to play games.

Vivi let the frost creep up past her wrists as she led the others through the trees and cacti and countless other plants she couldn’t even begin to dream up. “Any idea where she’d try to look for you, Mystery?”

Mystery trotted a little closer to her, his brow furrowed in that way that normal dogs could never manage. “Probably places where my essence is strongest. Kingsmen Mechanics, the Paradiso, and your house. Since you live across town from the others, however, she will likely check your house last.”

There came the sound of fire snapping, and Lewis’s voice only confirmed his worry. “But, if she was, if she was already at Kingsmen, then-”

“I guess we’re heading to Pepper Paradiso.” Arthur cut him off, and Vivi could picture the reassuring hand he’d put on Lewis’s shoulder.

Not because she was looking, however much she wanted to see them enjoying each other’s company after the terrible, rank debacle their friendship had become.

Her eyes were instead trained on the sight of writhing plant life where the Paradiso was meant to be.

“Good news!” She forced her voice to stay peppy. “We know where she is! Bad news! The Pepper Paradiso is a mess!”

The others rushed up to stand (or float) at her side, Lewis to her left, Mystery and Arthur to her right.

“I’m not sensing any deaths…” Lewis managed, his eyesockets wide.

(Arthur’s shocked “Wait, we can _do_ that???” went largely ignored for the moment.)

The hackles on Mystery’s back bristled, and deep red flickered out from the base of his tail. “We can’t afford to waste any more time!”

“Don’t gotta tell _me_ twice!” Vivi ground out, sprinting forward as ice bloomed beneath her feet, lasting just long enough to ensure she wouldn’t get tripped up by vines before evaporating again. Behind her, she heard Arthur and Lewis flare up, and soon they were neck and neck, with the steadily-growing Mystery just behind them.

Hah. A newly-empowered frost mage with ice encasing her limbs, two skeleton ghosts with affinities for fire and electricity, and a kitsune on the lam, and all four of them were getting ready to do battle with a tree spirit who had pretty much taken over Tempo.

If her past self had known she was going to experience this, she probably would’ve spontaneously combusted in excitement.

Needless to say, she thought they made a pretty intimidating impression once they got to the Paradiso.

What she _hadn’t_ counted on was seeing the rest of the Pepper family strung up in vines better suited for a jungle or rainforest, with customers restrained to their seats.

She had _also_ not counted on Shiromori nonchalantly lounging on one of the diner’s tables, as if just _waiting_ for them to bust down the door.

Her words were Japanese, but in much the same way that Vivi had recently caught the occasional stray emotion off of Lewis or Arthur, she understood the meanings loud and clear. _“I was wondering when you children might show up. I went to all the trouble of getting this little party together, and it would have been a shame if you’d never caught on, you know.”_

It seemed Vivi wasn’t the only one to _Know_ what Shiromori said, for Arthur took a step forward, his anchor pitter-pattering to the tune of blues and reds and an overwhelming magenta. “What is your _problem,_ lady? What did _they_ do to get you to hold them _hostage?!_ ”

_“Why, nothing!”_ Shiromori laughed, swinging her stubby legs over the table’s edge and sliding off. Her words slunk through their minds like over-greased, soggy fries. (Or maybe Vivi was just hungry and smelling what had been cooking before Shiromori had shown up.) _“I just needed a way to get your 'pet’ to come to me! And it worked, did it not?”_

Lewis’s hand came down on Vivi’s left shoulder, and she saw Arthur freeze up for a moment as the other hand met his right shoulder. Quietly, his voice popping in and out like TV static, he murmured, “You two go get them free. Mystery and I can take care of _this._ ”

Shiromori lifted a not-eyebrow, as if the sight before her was somewhat amusing. _“Oh? You feel you can take me on, little ghostling? Even while surrounded by plant life under my power? In a building you couldn’t bring yourself to burn?”_

Lewis didn’t respond.

Mystery did.

“ _NOW!_ ”

And the Mystery Skulls went on the offensive.


	6. Twist Of Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Shiromori has a bad time, and Lance has just about had it with supernatural shenanigans. (Feat. The Mystery Skulls' Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty folks, time to get into the thick of it! Trying something different with this one, since I’ve got stuff happening in a couple different places this time! (Yall didn’t think we were done with Lance, didja? :3c)
> 
> Content warnings: lil bit of body horror re: the possessed arm, injuries on a plant lady that would be gruesome on a human. described in the same level of detail as previous squicky scenes, which is to say “mostly just reactions,” but it’s still there.

Lance felt his breathing return to normal without any more sand to hack up, and he managed a little grin.

It seemed he was back in business.

He stood up, noticing how the sparking circle Arthur had left seemed to follow his movements. Interesting. Good to know his nephew hadn’t accidentally left him _stuck_ there.

Galahad had long since vacated his pockets, and the hamster now clung to his shoulder, watching the ward doodad with intelligent eyes. He’d always been an extraordinary little guy. (There was something tickling at the back of his mind, as if he was missing something important-)

Something itched at the edges of his hearing, and he zeroed in on it almost immediately.

Without the sounds of cars or nature to drown it out, Lance heard something scuttling through underbrush, and he carefully, _quietly,_ crept to the front door. If something was out there, he needed to know what, in case it was coming after him, or worse-

_Going after the kids!_

(He was _never_ letting anything touch them _ever again._ )

As he stood on tip-toes, straining to reach the peephole, he caught sight of the tail end of _something_ as it scurried into the forest.

It was the same color green that Arthur would freak out about, with the slightest tint of a cold, uncaring blue.

And if Lance didn’t know any better, he’d say the end he’d seen looked _remarkably_ like Arthur’s stump once had.

Except he _did_ know better.

It didn’t just “look like” it at all.

Galahad squeaked and Lance’s fists clenched as he took a step back, and the circle around him grew taller, as if responding to his distress. If only his shotgun hadn’t been, well, _shot,_ he’d just grab it and go! To heck with “staying out of danger!”

In the middle of his righteous anger, he caught sight of a baseball bat beside the door.

Lance Kingsmen, strongest man this side of the Mississippi for 10 years in a row, smirked.

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Arthur bit back a strangled scream and yanked Vivi towards him, away from the _shears now embedded in the wall behind them, still quivering in place._

He watched Lewis and Mystery shoot forward, diverting Shiromori’s attention from them. “Come on, Vivi, we gotta get everybody out of here!”

Vivi nodded, scrambling to her feet and pulling Arthur behind her. “Let’s do this fast so we can help kick this tree’s butt!”

The Peppers were thankfully able to help, not retreating into the backs of their minds like Arthur knew he would’ve. Even little Paprika, terrified and shaken as she was, refused to run to safety until her parents and sisters were free.

Arthur felt the air turn staticky, and if he’d had hair, it would’ve stood on end. “Everybody _duck!_ ”

Vivi and the Pepper parents heeded his advice, curling protectively over the girls as Mystery’s battered form flew over their heads and slammed into the tangle of vines and trees sprouting from the floor. He shook out his mane (because of _course_ he had one now, _of course!_ ) and gave them a shaky grin before bounding back over their heads and into the fight once more.

“You guys need to get out of here!” Arthur shouted over the sounds of yowling and burning and creaking wood and wordless threats. As he ushered the Peppers towards the kitchen, he helped hold seats still for Vivi when she started sawing at plant-y ropes left and right with her ice. “It’s too dangerous!”

Cayenne wriggled in his arm, trying her darnedest to get to the ground. “And let you get all the fun? _I don’t think so!_ That tree lady made Belle and Pap cry before you got here, and I’m gonna _kick her square in the ba-!_ ”

“Finish that sentence and you’re grounded, missy!” Mrs. Pepper cut her off, whisking her into her far-more-secure arms. “We’ve got to make sure nobody else gets hurt, and _that_ means we get to safety!”

Vivi managed a quick grin at Cayenne’s tenacity, but it quickly faded as a different shape shot past her. “Wh- _BELLE?!_ ”

“You get back here _right now!_ ” Mr. Pepper yelled, though more out of terror and _can she even hear me over all this noise???_ than out of any anger he may have had.

As if he hadn’t said a thing, Belle leapt over fallen tables and chairs, her eyes wet and wide and _locked onto Lewis’s very-much-human-looking face._

Arthur gasped, flying after her. “Belle, _please,_ you need to get to somewhere you’ll be safe!”

“ _NOT WITHOUT LEWIS!!!_ ” Belle shrieked, not looking away from Lewis’s suddenly-stiffening shoulders. “ _NOT WHEN HE’S RIGHT THERE!!!_ ”

Arthur caught up to her and hefted her against his side with his good arm. “Belle, I _promise_ you we’ll all sit down and work this out once this is over, but _we need it to be over first!_ ”

Shiromori cracked a wicked grin.

Arthur realized he didn’t have another hand to defend himself with.

Lewis realized the same thing.

So did Vivi.

As Arthur turned away from Shiromori’s attack, he wrapped Belle’s body with as much of his own as he could, and he prayed to whatever might listen to _at least make it quick-!_

As Arthur turned away from Shiromori’s attack, Lewis dropped his flaming assault in favor of trying to scoop the two up and flying away because _he wasn’t about to let them take the hit-!_

As Arthur turned away from Shiromori’s attack, Vivi dashed forward, swifter with the frost beneath her feet than she would’ve been without, unsure what to do but _knowing she couldn’t just let Shiromori hurt them-!_

Three friends collided just before the roots beneath the tile shot through them, and when Belle’s protector stopped rolling across the ground, it was Vivi who shakily stood up, holding her tight with closed eyes.

Arthur and Lewis were nowhere to be seen.

Vivi’s mouth opened, and three familiar voices came out, garbled and confused and discordant before coming to a realization.

Vivi’s mouth set into a firm line, and the three voices spoke in unison. **“Huh. Not what we were aiming for…”**

Vivi’s eyes opened, and the reason behind the strange, overlapping voices became apparent.

A spectral glow flashed from each, not quite making it through the whites of her eyes, though her pupils shone almost blindingly bright. Her right eye shimmered gold, and the ice along her right arm buzzed sharp and jagged, angular edges threatening to poke anyone who came too close. In contrast, her left eye flickered pinkish-purple, and the frost of her arm on _that_ side began moving as if it was born of flame, not ice.

**“…but we’ll take it.”**

Vivi-Who-Was-Also-Arthur-And-Lewis (LewViThur???) held their left arm protectively in front of Belle, lifting their right arm in a ‘stop right there’ gesture. Vivi’s voice overrode the other two for a brief moment. **“Alright, from what I’ve researched, it usually takes a _lot_ of effort for a ghost and their host to work in tandem.”**

Arthur’s voice cracked as their right eye widened. **“Host?! As in, _possession???_ ”**

Their left arm reached over and awkwardly patted their right shoulder. **“Artie, we’re all right here, we’re okay.”**

Vivi made a little 'ehem.’ **“Case in point: Exhibit A. But sometimes it’s easier. Like, say, _when the ghost and their host are already in sync._ ”**

LewViThur shook their head slightly, swinging their arms back down and stepping in between Belle and Shiromori as they spoke. **“The point _being,_ we’ve never heard of ****_three_ consciousnesses successfully sharing control before, let alone as well as we seem to be.”**

**“And we’re all _very_ angry.”**

〜〜〜〜〜〜

The Thing could feel the smorgasbord of chaos from all the way across town.

It wished it had the rest of its host’s body, the better to do an excited little dance with, but what it had was still plenty to get it moving.

It hopped across the plants and debris in its way, wriggling through the occasional gap whenever the way grew too cramped. The enticing flavors of its host blended with the purple ghost and the not-dog and the blue woman, as well as countless others it hadn’t yet seen.

Oh, it was as if they’d laid out a feast for it! All it needed now was a red carpet, and it would be all set!

(Behind it, a stout shadow loomed, his anger and _not this time_ and his little companion’s distaste masked by the waves of terror from before them.)

〜〜〜〜〜〜

LewViThur was still reeling from the shock of being thrown together, but between Lewis and Arthur’s ghostly reflexes and Vivi’s physical prowess, they leapt away from Shiromori’s next attack with ease. They darted back to the Peppers and set Belle down, whipping their right hand back to throw up a crackling golden ward while their left hand mussed up Belle’s hair.

**“Alright, now _stay safe!_ ”** They beeped her on the nose with a small smile. **“We’ll come find you guys when this is all over. _Promise._ ”**

Behind them, Mystery snapped at Shiromori, buying them a few precious seconds.

Belle seemed ready to protest, heck, all three girls did, but their parents gathered them up and booked it out the back door with the last of the freed customers.

LewViThur nodded to themselves, and they moved the protective ward to the door before turning back to the battle.

**“Alright, Shiromori. You wanna go?”** They taunted, part of them **terrified** but the rest of them **reassuring him that they were right by his side.**

Shiromori glanced away from Mystery for a brief second, meeting their eyes.

LewViThur realized how much of their powers could be described as “crackling” when flames, lightning, and frost combined into a snapping, staticky symphony around their arms and legs. They filed the thought away for later and smirked, the left side of their mouth lifting higher than the right.

(The right side of their mouth faltered for a moment, and then they flattened the whole thing into a grim line, which _everyone_ found to be an agreeable expression to make.)

**“Let’s go.”**

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Lance cursed when he missed, slamming the bat down on empty ground where the Thing had been mere seconds before.

The Thing leapt away from him, swinging its elbow ( _Arthur’s elbow!_ ) back like some twisted combination of a tail and a weapon. It balanced precariously on its ( _ARTHUR’S!!!_ ) fingers like a five-legged spider, and it probably would have hissed at him, had it a mouth to do so with.

“You’re the one who did this to my kids, _aren’t you?_ ” Lance demanded, because _they’d always been his kids and the Peppers’ kids and the Yukinos’ kids, hadn’t they?_ “You’re the reason everything went to pieces in that _accursed_ cave!”

The Thing froze for a moment, as if shocked at Lance’s (correct) assumption, but then it went back on the move. Thoughts tickled at the outside of his mind, foreign thoughts of _hatred_ and _unstoppable_ and _I’LL TAKE WHAT’S MINE AND TEAR YOU APART, YOU MORTAL WEAKLING!!!_

Lance grit his teeth and barrelled forward, bat ready to swing.

“BATTER UP!”

〜〜〜〜〜〜

The writhing mass of tree branches and plant matter stabbed through the walls, slowly gaining on LewViThur as they frantically ran through their options.

Split back up and take Shiromori on separately? (Arthur shoved the thought away with a mental scream, remembering what happened the last time he was involved in a possession. They couldn’t afford to slow down, and whether he wanted to or not, _they’d do exactly that._ )

A cactus slammed into the wall in front of them, and they did an about-face to throw off Shiromori’s assault.

Go full-on anime, using all their powers at once? (Lewis tossed the idea aside as soon as it came. Possessions were already taxing on the possessed party, and there were _two_ ghosts possessing Vivi. Whether they liked it or not, _Vivi was gonna need a LOT of rest and recovery after this._ )

Leaping from table to table, LewViThur charged head-on at Shiromori, their arms encased in burning, buzzing, razor-sharp ice as they wound back.

(Vivi laughed and pulled the other two close. They would just take things one step at a time, like they always did. And, hey, if she was reading his memories right, hadn’t Lewis managed to immobilize her before?)

( _Why not try that again?_ )

LewViThur screamed a battle cry as they sliced down and to the side, severing Shiromori’s left arm with their right, and slashing through most of her torso with their flaming frost.

She recoiled with a snarl, nearly dropping her shears as she glared at her empty shoulder.

Amber sparks greeted her, rather than a regrown limb.

Shiromori’s eyes widened, glancing up at the advancing LewViThur with the beginning traces of what might be called “fear.”

LewViThur didn’t know for sure, nor did they particularly care.

Mystery stood tall and proud as Shiromori scrambled back, huffing down at her once she hit his forelegs.

It seemed the battle was good as won.

Then Lance’s voice rang out from what had once been the street.

“BATTER UP!”

And something green flew through the window, sending shards of glass and shreds of _something LewViThur really didn’t want to think about for a variety of reasons_ raining down.


	7. Hammer Back Into Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a lot of stuff happens really fast, and LewViThur Goes Off. (Feat. Galaham being the best boy)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one’s a little longer, for several reasons! First of all, YALL ARE ENABLERS. Secondly, IT’S HOLLY JOLLY PRESENTS DAY (as of the original post) SO HERE’S A PRESENT FROM ME TO YOU. Thirdly, I got through the scene and when I checked the word count it was long so THAT’S WHAT WE’RE DOING! :DDD
> 
> Content Warnings: Bit more body horror of the “possessed arm” variety. Somebody gets heckin possessed and we get to witness it from the outside as they lose control of their body. Also somebody gets tired of being nice, and they just go apesh*t. Not really graphic, like at all, but. Better safe than sorry!
> 
> (hEY YALL NEBULOUS_RAIN DREW THE POSSESSION VICTIM AND IT'S REALLY SUPER COOL SO UH CHECK THE END NOTES TO SEE IT AND SCREAM WITH ME)

Lance took a running leap, clambering through the broken window and dropping into the restaurant. Advancing on the Thing, he snarled, “ _That_ one’s for messing with my family!”

Before he could go on, he looked up, realizing what he’d walked into.

The plant lady (hadn’t the kids called her “Shiromori?”) stared at him from her spot on the floor.

Mystery’s eyes were wide, his little glasses almost slipping off his wolfish snout.

Vivi had shimmering chunks of ice around her arms and legs, and while she also gave him a flabbergasted look, it was with glowing eyes of two different colors.

…specifically, the two colors he’d grown to associate with Arthur and Lewis over the past week.

Because _why not._

Lance grimaced. “…well, I can see you’re all _quite_ busy, but if you could toss me that piece of vermin down there, I’ll get out of your hair right quick.” He gestured to the Thing with the baseball bat in explanation, the protective ward around him shifting to keep the bat within it. “I gotta have a bit of a _chat_ with it.”

On his shoulder, Galahad chittered, his fur raising up as he glared down at the Thing.

Shiromori smirked, snatching it off the ground with her one good arm. (And when had _that_ happened???) _“Do you want it, little mortal?”_

Vivi’s mouth opened, and she, Arthur, and Lewis all groaned. **“Oh, you** ** _gotta_ be kidding us.”**

_“Come and GET IT!”_

Lance couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

It wasn’t just the garden-variety disbelief he’d grown used to over the past week, either. Dogs that were actually ancient fox spirits? Alright. Supernatural amnesia? Sure. The whole complicated mess that the Mystery Skulls’ relationships had become? He’d seen weirder!

No, this was a whole _new_ level of impossibility.

With a bloodthirsty cackle, a laugh just to the left of sanity, Shiromori (the _plant_ lady) shoved the stumpy end of the Thing (once upon a time, his nephew’s _arm_ ) into the sparking, twitching mass of her shoulder.

The Thing writhed in her grip for a moment before stilling, the flesh of its palm crinkling around its eye (and Lance felt his breakfast trying to come back out at the sight of _an eye embedded in what used to be his nephew’s hand_ ) in a false smile.

Lance found Mystery and himself taking several steps closer to LewViThur, staring in disgust at the now-panicking Shiromori. He swallowed down his oatmeal’s ‘encore.’ “So uh…did anybody else expect this, or nah?”

LewViThur tried to answer, pressing into Mystery’s flank for comfort, but the three voices layered atop one another were in disarray. A deep voice went **“Eugh,”** a higher voice made a pained keening whine, and an even higher voice actually managed a full word: **“N-no…”**

_“What?! How DARE you!”_ Shiromori shrieked, now trying to rip the Thing off. Her only reaction came in sparks both golden and green. _“You are merely a spirit trapped in an incomplete vessel! YOU WILL DO AS I COMMAND!!!”_

As Lance watched, the greenish tint of the Thing branched up into Shiromori’s shoulder. It seemed to be following her not-quite-blood-vessels, twisting and reaching deeper before filling in entirely.

The Thing claimed part of her mouth, and a manic grin grew on their shared face. Not even trying to match a true language, it used her mouth to giggle and snarl in equal measure. _“That’s what they all say, all say, all say! You need NEED need to get your head on straight **LET ME HELP YOU!** ”_

This was the Thing that had taken over Arthur.

This was the Thing to blame for Lewis’s death.

This was the Thing responsible for taking the joy in the kids’ lives and _snuffing it out._

Shiromori’s left eye flared green. (Had Arthur’s left eye turned green, too?)

Lance was honestly pretty glad that he didn’t usually have to deal with any of this supernatural mumbo-jumbo. If he’d been anything other than fully human, _and at this point he was pretty sure he’d definitely be something Else,_ he probably would’ve blown the Paradiso sky-high by now.

There was the source of their problems, _right there!_

And yet LewViThur could only watch in horror as the green working its way across Shiromori’s body finally reached her bonsai tree. The leaves wilted away, the blooms shriveling up but staying put. All her pinks and reds were washed away, leaving behind pale silvery-grays that deadened to pitch-blacks.

Fine.

If the kids were frozen in terror, disgust, or what have you, Lance would _gladly_ bite the bullet.

“Alright, listen up, you bodysnatching freak of nature!” Lance roared, storming forward with the bat in one hand, the other clenched in a fist. “I’ve just about _had it_ with you! You kill the gentlest giant in Tempo, you make _him_ kill my nephew, the kid who’s been fighting night terrors the likes of which I can’t even _imagine,_ and now you’re gonna try and tear the whole town to pieces?!”

LewViThur’s voices garbled even further, shouting behind him. **“MR-UNC-KING-LANCE-MEN! _LOOK OUT!!!_ ”**

Lance dodged away from the thorny branch as it shot up through the tile, accidentally dislodging Galahad from his shoulder and throwing him from the glowing ward. He couldn’t spare more than a glance, however, so he hoped the little guy wasn’t being targeted like he was.

The Thing In Shiromori’s Body cackled. _“But fear guilt hatred LOATHING so good so good so good! Mortal emotions so so so SO strong! I **NEED** THEM!”_

Shiromori’s right arm spasmed, sending her shears flying out of her hand as the Thing’s influence spread even further. The shears’ eye sent a glare at the Thing, but they couldn’t do much other than shamble out of the blast zone and into another room.

Lance didn’t pay it any mind. If it was gonna come back and bite them, Mystery could take care of it or something. He was too focused on the Thing to care.

_“Yes yes you have MANY emotions, taste smell scent DELICIOUSSS!!!”_ The Thing lunged for him with its plant arm (he couldn’t call it “its _stolen_ arm,” _both its arms were taken from someone else_ ), missing by a hair.

Lance whirled around and slammed the bat down on its hand, shattering its bracelet and driving the shards into its now-flattened wrist. “You brought this on yourself, you disgusting _demon!_ ”

LewViThur snapped to awareness at that, and when they next spoke, it was with Arthur’s voice. **“Lewis, is _this_ how you felt? When you thought…I was guilty?”**

Lance and the Thing both glanced up at that, and while the Thing snarled, Lance’s jaw went slack.

The ice coating Vivi’s arms had shot up to her shoulders, and while the smoother ice on her left side was still wreathed in Lewis’s flames, the ice on her right was even more jagged than before. Lightning arced from icicle-tip to icicle-tip, coursing along her arm and leg.

LewViThur’s yellow eye was wide and shaking, but not in fear.

_Not this time._

Lewis didn’t make any outward reply, but Arthur answered whatever he’d heard, his voice struggling to stay steady, to _get past their grit teeth._

**“I can see…how…it was easy…to get…lost…in your…rage…then.”**

Lance swallowed, but shot a smirk down at the Thing. “Now you’ve gone and done it. The kid without _any_ temper whatsoever, and you just _had_ to get him angry.”

The Thing didn’t take too kindly to Lance’s taunting, and he ducked back from its mangled fist.

This also had the side effect of getting him far enough away for LewViThur to get a clear shot.

They sprang forward, tackling the Thing to the ground and rolling out of sight. Lance leapt to his feet as if to go after them, but Mystery placed a paw in his way. “Not yet. Shiromori threw her shears aside, which means she’s still around here somewhere. If we find her shears and destroy them, the form that relies on her existence will fade, and the pups will be able to extinguish the green demon.”

Lance huffed and turned to follow Mystery. “Alright, but how does that even work? She was just fine when she got barbecued, how is this supposed to be different?”

“When she was 'barbecued,’ she still had control over part of her being.” Mystery explained, swiping away dying plants to clear the way to the kitchen. “She is currently relegated to her shears, and she cannot grow another humanoid form until the one currently active is destroyed. However, her humanoid form still relies on there being a part of her out there, alive.”

Lance squared his shoulders and put some extra energy in his stomps. “So we beat the shears before the kids beat the Thing, or she can just regrow herself again, and we’re back to square one?”

“That is the gist, yes.” Mystery admitted.

Lance scowled, twirling the bat around so he could smack it into his free palm. “Alright then. Let’s cut this tree down to size.”

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Galahad was a tiny hamster.

This had always been true.

Galahad was an extremely long-lived, intelligent hamster.

This had not always been true.

Galahad tore across the floor, fleeing the battle at top speed. The others were yelling and shouting, but he couldn’t spare them another glance.

Shiromori’s shears clattered to the ground in front of him.

He reared back with a squeak in both his wheels and his throat. The shears blinked open an eye(?!) and glared at something over his head, ignoring him completely in favor of trying to make an escape.

Galahad spun around, piecing together what little he could.

Shiromori was the tree lady.

The tree lady was now the same color as Really-Gross-Arthur-Arm.

The shears were still the same color as before.

The tree lady was just trying to hurt Arthur and his friends.

Little Galahad wasn’t quite able to wrap his mind around the idea that the shears were a part of Shiromori herself, just that they were important to her.

But that was enough.

Galahad was a tiny hamster, it was true. He’d be smooshed under the tree lady’s pointy foot in an instant.

But the shears were a lot smaller than the tree lady, now, weren’t they?

He shot after the shears, ready to put his chewing abilities to work.

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Both sides of LewViThur’s lips pulled back in a vicious snarl, the lights in their eyes flashing in time with Vivi’s heartbeat and the ghosts’ anchors. **“YOU! _YOU DID THIS TO US!!!_ ”**

The Thing warped Shiromori’s face, grin stretching from ear to ear and still growing. _“Oh yes yes YEEES isn’t it DELECTABLE, **SPIRIT???** Can’t you taste taste taste it??? The agony grief self-hatred fury rage SIMPLY **SCRUMPTIOUS!!!** ”_

Surprisingly (or perhaps not), it wasn’t LewViThur’s _left_ arm that snapped out to grab the Thing by the throat.

It was their _right._

They spun around, hurling it across the dining area and onto a booth table. (Lewis filed away the urge to congratulate his parents on _getting sturdier tables like he’d asked them to for ages_ for later.)

Flames and electricity intermingled as the ice crawling across their body finally met on their torso. When LewViThur next opened their mouth, Vivi’s voice had taken a backseat, and Arthur’s and Lewis’s reverberated loud enough to drown her out.

**“ _YOU’RE THE ONE WHO MADE ME KILL HIM!!!_ ”**

Ignoring the angry tears welling up, they took hold of it by Shiromori’s collar, using their left hand this time, and dragged it off the table and into the air. Their right hand curled into a fist, just itching to slug the Thing.

The Thing giggled, not even trying to fight. _“No nononoNO, you’re all wrong all wrong all wrong! Yellow yellow left the door wide open! Purple pink purple didn’t have to HAVE TO listen!”_

**“Hey.”**

Vivi’s voice was quiet, but the other two were silent, no longer speaking at all.

(Were those chimes in the distance?)

LewViThur scowled, wiping their eyes dry, and in Vivi’s voice, they ground out…

**“ _Shaddup._ ”**

They tossed the Thing to the floor, and in a change they’d only notice later, instead of ice conforming to the motions of fire or lightning, Lewis and Arthur’s elements swirled into their hands like the biting winds of a blizzard.

(…Were the maybe-chimes even very far away?)

**“You _do_ realize we can peek at each others’ memories in here, right?”** Vivi’s voice continued. LewViThur calmly strode up to the Thing, glaring down their nose at it. **“Artie didn’t leave _anything_ open for you, _you forced your way in._ ”**

LewViThur launched a blast of freezing plasma at the stunned Thing, as if it was a diskus instead of a manifestation of energy.

**“And Lew?”** Arthur’s voice joined in again, still quiet, but growing louder with every word. **“He was barely even formed when you made your move! _You’re_ the reason he even thought Artie would willingly do such a thing! _You’re the reason it took so long for him to remember how GREEN ARTIE WAS!_ ”**

They stuck their left hand out before them, a stream of sub-zero flames rushing forward and enveloping the Thing’s stolen body as it screamed.

(The maybe-chimes were hideously out of tune.)

When they let up, LewViThur’s voice was once again an even mix of all three. **“You’re a liar, a thief, and a murderer, and you’ve earned the fury of two extremely powerful ghosts and an up-and-coming mage prodigy. _Do you have any last words?_ ”**

The Thing cackled, pushing itself upright with icy, burning arms. _“You are NOTHING nothing NOTHING against ME! I AM ETERNAL I AM FOREVER I AM INFINITE I AM-!”_

“-about to be in a _world_ of pain.”

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Galahad chased the shears across the floor, and if he’d been able, he’d have yelled curse words at it without stopping. As it was, all he could do was hiss and squeak. The shears glanced back at him every now and then, but he never gave it time to turn around and come after him.

For a brief moment, Galahad’s little hamster brain forgot all about the world outside The Game Of Catch The Shears.

Then a _huuuge_ paw slammed down onto the handles of the shears, and Galahad looked up to see Big-Mystery and Uncle-Lance giving him a little smile.

“Galaham, you little rascal, you’re getting a whole bag of sunflower seeds after this!” Uncle-Lance reached through the Artie-circle and picked him up with a laugh.

Galahad nuzzled up into Uncle-Lance’s cheek. He’d done good!

Big-Mystery chuckled at them for a moment before glaring back down at his prey. “Galaham kept the shears busy enough that they couldn’t find a place to replant. What a smart little fellow…” He looked over at Uncle-Lance and Galahad. “Lance, would you like to do the honors?”

Uncle-Lance laughed again, but this time in a way that made the shears’ eye go wide. “With pleasure.”

Galahad felt Uncle-Lance’s shoulders move, and he scrambled for a hold on his shirt-!

The baseball bat sparked gold and came down with a resounding clang.

And then again.

And again.

Galahad stopped trying to watch, instead focusing on keeping his grip on Uncle-Lance’s shirt collar. The metallic clanging slowly shifted from a clear, bell-like ring to the crashing noises of crumpling sheet metal.

When the crashing stopped, he lifted his head just in time to see the mangled remains of the shears before they completely disappeared.

Big-Mystery nodded, satisfied. “After centuries of her malevolence…Shiromori is no more.”

Before they could celebrate, they heard the Thing’s mad cackling from the main dining area. _“You are NOTHING nothing NOTHING against ME! I AM ETERNAL I AM FOREVER I AM INFINITE I AM-!”_

Uncle-Lance hefted the bat against his hamsterless shoulder and stalked into view, Big-Mystery prowling beside him.

“-about to be in a _world_ of pain.”

〜〜〜〜〜〜

LewViThur cracked a quick grin at Lance’s interruption. **“Wondered where you went!”**

“Just beating up a loose end before it could become a problem.” Lance waved them off, stopping a safe distance from them and the Thing. “Don’t let me interrupt you twice in one day. Take care of _This_ and let’s go get the Peppers.”

**“If you insist!”** LewViThur’s mouth turned up in a smirk as they looked back down at the Thing. **“See you never, body-stealer.”**

Energy coalesced around their hands, the biting cold of a snowstorm and the all-consuming rage of a wildfire and the jagged shock of a lightning strike combining as they clapped-

If the sounds of their powers were all different kinds of 'crackling,’ the sound of all three at once was a rollicking crash of thunder.

By the time they’d blinked the stars from their eyes, their attack had faded, and the Thing was well on its way to joining it. It screamed with what little it had left, though it sounded more like a high-pitched squeak.

With no other fanfare, the Thing responsible for Lewis’s death, and Arthur’s by extension, disintegrated into nothing, leaving behind only the knowledge it had been there.

After a brief moment, LewViThur nodded, swiping their left foot over the spot where it had been as if to brush away a food spill. **“We dont want to jinx it, but…is it…?”**

“It’s over.” Mystery smiled, shrinking back down to his smaller dog form. “There are no other malevolent beings from our past coming to exact vengeance. Perhaps there may be more dangerous situations to come, but this one, at least, is at a close.”

When LewViThur next spoke, their voices were even more out of sync. **“Oh, thank goodness.”**

Vivi plopped down right then and there, her breathing labored as Lewis and Arthur fell to either side, their forms flickering slightly.

Vivi flopped her arms up and onto the ghost’s shoulders, and the three pushed themselves to their unsteady feet. She huffed and puffed, but her exhausted grin still found its way onto Arthur’s face, then Lewis’s. “Well, let’s not keep them waiting, shall we?”

Lance was the one to get the door for them, and Vivi had a brief moment of peace to enjoy the sight of Shiromori’s fake forest withering away and vanishing to the ether.

Then Lewis was tackled out from under her arm by three bawling children, and once she and Arthur recovered, Vivi laughed long and hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK AT THIS STELLAR ART AND SCREAM WITH ME **_AAAAAAAAA_**


	8. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Arthur gets what he wished for way back in chapter 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue time fellas. After a whole 2 weeks of internally (and externally) screaming, I’ve officially, FINALLY FINISHED A MULTI-CHAPTER FIC. I’VE BEEN WRITING FOR 6 YEARS AND NEVER FINISHED ANYTHING BEYOND A ONE-SHOT UNTIL TODAY. ~~I’M SO DANG PROUD OF MYSELF!~~ I might still write stuff for my version of the MSA gang, but as far as this story goes, this is it! ~~Might crosspost it to AO3 too, now that it’s done!~~ _YEET!!!_ It’s been an honor writing for you all! :D
> 
> No content warnings! Just hijinks and sappiness as far as the eye can see!

Arthur stuck his tongue out to the side, focusing on the empty space below his shoulder. “C'mon, _c'mon…_ ”

Yellow light flickered and arced off his stump, much like it had the past several times he’d tried, but unlike before, it didn’t fizzle out. The light left glowing trails in its path, building on itself and extending out, further and further-

There came a sharp knock at his door. “Hey, kid, you gonna be in there much longer? Vivi’s eyeing the fridge again!”

Arthur jumped, falling through his chair and losing concentration with a flash of light. “ _Ah-!_ DANGIT!”

Lance had the good sense to look embarrassed when he peered into the room. “Heh, sorry. Didn’t know you were in the zone.”

Arthur waved him off with one hand, pushing himself to his feet with the other. “Nah, I was just about done trying for today…anyway…hang on.”

He looked down at the hand he’d pressed flat to the floor.

A grin slid onto Lance’s face, though Arthur was too busy staring at his _glowing left hand_ to notice.

“I…I did it?”

Arthur’s skull snapped back up to lock gazes with Lance, eyesockets glowing in every sense of the word. “I DID IT!”

“I knew you’d get the hang of it!” Lance beamed, striding over and helping Arthur stand. “The Kingsmen drive came through yet again!”

Arthur pulled Lance into a quick, tight hug, then let go and shot out the door, banking through the hall until screeching to a stop in the kitchen.

Vivi looked up from the fridge, not even fazed by Lewis’s attempts to pull her away. “Oh, heya, Artie! Wondered what was taking you so loh-HAHAHAHA _HA!_ ” She stood up stick-straight, pointing at his left arm with a manic grin. “I _KNEW_ YOU’D GET IT BEFORE THE WEEK WAS OUT!”

Mystery glanced over with a small smile and tried to shimmy back under the kitchen table, but alas-

“MYSTERY OWES ME AN EXTRA SPELL NOW!”

Arthur snorted, watching as Mystery dropped his head to the floor with a resigned ‘thwack.’ “One thing at a time, Vi. Mind shutting the door so we don’t freeze my uncle into a Lance-cicle?”

“Oh, right.” Vivi backed out of the fridge, shutting the door with her foot so the stack of sandwich fix-ins in her hands wouldn’t fall. “You want a ham and cheese?”

“Yes, please!” Arthur zipped to the table in a flash, ready to pull out a chair and sit down, but he did a quick double-take at something in the corner of his vision.

Lewis was staring at his left arm, the glowing one he’d only had for a few moments in the semi before dissipating it in terror.

The one that had been mechanical up until his death in the semi.

The one that had been possessed in the cave.

The one that Lewis hadn’t _realized_ was possessed until Arthur’s spirit was cowering from him, in the throes of a panic attack.

Arthur smiled sadly, letting his human face crackle up over his skull. “Dude, you need a hug?”

“I-I…I…” Lewis sighed and met his eyes. “If you’re offering.”

Arthur nodded, holding his arms out. “Any time, big guy.”

Lewis sniffled, and then he scooped Arthur up and clutched him tight in one quick motion. Arthur’s mind took a second to catch up, but then he wrapped his arms around his friend, because _he could do that now and he didn’t think he’d ever get tired of it._

“Awww, you two are adorable!” Vivi chuckled, setting a plate of sandwiches down on an intricately-patterned tablecloth. With a quick tap and a quiet incantation of _“Sate the hunger of both the living and the dead,”_ she left the dimly-glowing platter to its own devices in favor of throwing her arms around the other two. “I’m getting in on this hug, though, and you can’t stop me!”

Arthur felt a slightly hysterical giggle bubbling up, but he didn’t feel the need to stifle it. Not anymore.

“We wouldn’t have it any other way, Vivi.” Lewis rubbed the tears from his eyes (oh, was _he_ crying, too? They could have a crying party, at this rate!) and tugged Vivi into the embrace without further ado.

Arthur heard Lance meander on over, and judging from Mystery’s sudden “oh that’s good,” he’d started scratching him behind the ears.

“You kids are gonna infect me with the mushies one of these days, y'know that, right?” Lance complained, though he only gave them a light shove and a smirk as he walked by. “Get your food and go do whatever it is you superpowered supernatural investigators do!”

Arthur laughed, not moving to get up. “We will, we will. You know to give Galaham his vitamins, right?”

“Craziest dietary supplement I’ve ever heard of, but yeah.” Lance walked into view, giving a reused soda bottle a little shake as he did. The little seeds inside mixed around, glowing pink and yellow and blue and red. “Who'dathunk being around Mystery so much would’ve made him get to be such an old hamster? Honestly…”

“Well, how was _I_ to know the rules of magic applied to hamsters on wheels?” Mystery protested with a grin.

Lewis shifted. “Well, not that I _wouldn’t_ love to stay like this until the end of time, but we should probably eat up.”

“Yeah, I knowww…” Vivi groaned, sliding out of the hug and dropping onto a chair. “Even if it feels _super_ -nice…”

Arthur pressed his new hand to his mouth, his shoulders shaking in mirth. “We can cuddle more in the van later. Speaking of which, what’s that job you were talking about yesterday, Vi?”

As Lewis let go and took a sandwich from the plate, Arthur floated over to the seat he’d meant to take in the first place, throwing his right arm over the back of the chair.

“Well, we’ve got some folks over in New Dublin with a potential trio of the Fair Folk doing Fair Folk Things where it’s most inconvenient for the human citizens.” Vivi began, swiping a PB&J before anyone else could. “It started out with some computer issues, but it’s gotten pretty chaotic lately. Maybe we can stop by the observatory outside of town while we’re there…I’m told the coffee at one of the local stores is _to die for!_ ”

Lewis and Arthur both chucked napkins at her for that one.

“New Dublin? That’s quite a ways out.” Lance remarked. He shook a few seeds out into Galahad’s hamster food, mixing them in a bit. “I don’t _think_ we’ll run out of these blasted magic treats, but still don’t take too long, got it?”

“No promises, Mr. Kingsmen!” Lewis chuckled, reaching back to feed a Deadbeat some of his sandwich.

Arthur felt his anchor pulse, warm and strong, when his uncle scoffed. “Please, Lewis. Call me Lance. I’d say you’ve earned _that_ much back, at least.”

“…Well, then, no promises, Uncle Lance!” Lewis beamed, his eyes flaring bright pink.

Lance just snickered and shook his head before picking the 'enhanced’ hamster food up. “Go have fun, you crazy kids. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, all that junk.”

“You got it, Uncle Lance.” Arthur gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder, careful not to spill Galahad’s food. “We’ll be safe.”

Arthur found himself the target of _several_ unimpressed stares.

“…well, safe as can be expected, anyway.” He scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. “Hopefully it won’t go to heck in a handbasket, but, y'know.”

Lance just burst into guffaws, leaving the room without another word.

Arthur turned back to the table and snatched up a ham and cheese sandwich. “So, before we go, didn’t Lewis’s parents want us to stop by?”

Lewis’s warm smile turned slightly longsuffering, and he pressed a hand to his forehead. “Mamá, Papá…I’m willing to bet they wanna load us up with food for the minifridge before we go.”

“I’ll take that bet! What’re your terms?” Vivi asked, taking a bite of her sandwich without breaking eye contact.

“Hm…If they shove home cooking on us, then…” Lewis thought for a moment before grinning. “…Then we stop for the night at a place of my choosing, no complaints!”

Vivi stroked her chin, twirling an imaginary goatee as she chewed and swallowed. “And if they don’t, then you have to summon that purple mansion for us to stay in!”

Arthur glanced up as Mystery hopped into a fourth chair with a smug grin. “I’ll do you two one better. If they give us enough food to go in the minifridge, _without_ overflowing the dratted thing, wherever we stay has to be pet-friendly! I’d like to get out and about on one of these trips!”

“Artie, you wanna get in on this?” Lewis asked, lifting an eyebrow. “Everyone else has something at stake!”

Arthur hemmed and hawed, dramatically thinking over his answer for far longer than he actually needed before smirking. “How about this? Whether they give us food or not, Lewis gets tackled by his sisters. For each sister that hits him, I get to pick a movie to watch while we’re on the road.”

“A fair wager, my good sir!” Vivi grinned, sticking her hand into the middle of their circle. “All in favor of these terms, put your hand in the middle for an official Mystery Skulls Battle Cry, or forever hold your peace!”

“I’m in!” Lewis nodded, placing his hand on Vivi’s almost immediately.

“As am I!” Mystery crowed, dropping his paw onto the growing stack.

Arthur chuckled for a moment, not adding his hand to the middle for a moment.

He’d missed this.

_So_ much.

“Yeah, me too.” He completed the stack with his glowing hand.

Vivi’s eyes lit up, both as a metaphor and in reality. Blue swirls of light swam in plain view for a moment. “Then on the count of three!”

Lewis’s hair swayed on his head, glowing brighter pink around the edges.

“One!”

Mystery’s tail wagged, and for a moment it seemed like his dog form had several more tails to wag.

“Two!”

Arthur glanced around at the other three. His anchor reacted to the sight, ocean blues and bright magentas and ruby reds chasing each other across the surface.

“Three!”

It was everything he could’ve ever wished for, and he wouldn’t change anything about it, now he knew how all the chips fell.

“ _MYSTERY SKULLS!_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> would ya believe me if i said i was writing this by the seat of my pants the whole time? bc it's true. usually i can't keep up this kind of momentum (uploading 2K words every other day on tumblr, and now crossposting onto here), let alone long enough to finish a story!
> 
> i feel like i've been unchained
> 
> _meme off the string, what fandom crimes will she commit?_


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